LAKELAND, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Publix Pharmacy and Beaufort Memorial Hospital (BMH) have announced a collaboration to expand health care services for residents of Beaufort County, South Carolina. The agreement includes in-hospital delivery of patient prescriptions from a nearby Publix, as well as in-store telehealth centers at two Publix locations.
“Patients are looking for more convenient access to health care, whether it’s treatment for non-emergency medical conditions or easier transitions from hospital to home,” said Publix Vice President of Pharmacy Dain Rusk. “This collaboration with Beaufort Memorial Hospital will provide residents of the Beaufort community with a medical care option where they shop and eliminate an extra errand for patients leaving the hospital.”
“We’re excited about this collaboration to expand access to care in the Lowcountry and to provide a direct prescription service to patients leaving the hospital,” said Beaufort Memorial President and CEO Russell Baxley, MHA. “Our mission is to improve the health of our community and offering walk-in care through Publix Pharmacy provides a unique way to do just that. It’s another option for patients who need care when and where it is most convenient for them.”
As part of the collaboration, patients discharged from BMH can choose to have medications that are prescribed during their stay delivered to their room prior to leaving the hospital. The Publix Pharmacy at store 1463 in Beaufort, South Carolina, will fill the prescriptions, and a Publix associate will deliver them to the hospital room. Any payments can be made upon delivery.
In addition, Publix will install telehealth centers to provide non-emergency medical care at store 1463 in Beaufort and store 1205 in Bluffton, South Carolina. Powered by the BMH Care Anywhere online virtual care service, each telehealth center will have a private room with teleconferencing and medical diagnostic equipment, including stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, high-definition cameras and other tools necessary for common diagnoses. The telehealth sites will allow patients to speak directly with a board-certified provider via video conferencing technology. The provider can direct the patient to use the available diagnostic tools in order to make a diagnosis and write any necessary prescriptions. Publix Pharmacy support staff will be available to assist patients, if needed. Visits will be $59 and will not require an appointment. The telehealth centers will open later this year.
About Beaufort Memorial Hospital
Opened on May 1, 1944, and licensed for 197 beds (169 acute, 14 rehabilitation, and 14 mental health), BMH serves as an acute-care hospital, a regional referral center and the largest medical facility between Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. The hospital has a dedicated, high-quality medical staff of nearly 230 board-certified or board-eligible providers, covering dozens of specialties to meet the community’s diverse health needs. The health system includes a large physician practice network and mobile health outreach serving Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties. The hospital formed a clinical affiliation with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC Health) in 2016 to offer cancer clinical trials locally. The affiliation has since expanded to include telemedicine services for stroke and neonatal patients, a second full-service cancer center in Okatie, South Carolina, and a planned micro hospital in Bluffton. With its mission to deliver superior healthcare services to patients and to improve the health of the community, BMH has consistently received national and regional recognition for providing safe and effective patient care. Accredited by The Joint Commission, the not-for-profit hospital has received the Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Hip and Knee Replacement, Chest Pain and Stroke Care. For more information, services, locations and designations visit www.beaufortmemorial.org.
About Publix
Publix is privately owned and operated by its more than 200,000 employees, with 2018 sales of $36.1 billion. Currently, Publix has 1,221 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The company has been named one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For for 22 consecutive years and ranked No. 1 on Fortune’s inaugural Best Big Companies to Work For list. In addition, Publix’s dedication to superior quality and customer service is recognized among the top in the grocery business. For more information, visit the company’s website, corporate.publix.com.
