About Us

During the 1960s, the health care needs of the city of Columbia were being reassessed. After careful consideration of community needs and the costs involved with new construction versus extensive renovations, the Board of Trustees recommended that a new 600-bed hospital be built to replace Columbia Hospital. With voter approval and additional financial help from federal funds, the Duke Endowment and private businesses,the newly named Richland Memorial Hospital was built and the doors opened on March 4, 1972 to 163 patients.

 

In 1974, the first Richland Memorial/USC affiliation for medical resident education was assigned. The campus continued to expand with the construction of several clinics including an Ambulatory Care Center to house fulltime faculty members from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine who taught and still practiced privately. In 1980, the hospital opened the first and only Level 1 Trauma Center in the Midlands. The Trauma Center treats the most critically ill and injured patients locally and across 16 South Carolina counties. Three years later, in 1983, an entire floor was dedicated to a long-awaited Children’s Hospital – South Carolina’s first hospital for children.

 

In the mid ‘90s, dramatic changes in the health care industry forced many hospitals to change or be left behind. To remain competitive, health care systems had to become more efficient, deliver higher quality health care, and increase access and choice for patients. To respond to these changes, in February 1998, Richland Memorial Hospital and Baptist Healthcare System of South Carolina came together to form Palmetto Health, a bold, new, locally led health care system. Today, Palmetto Health has undergone another merger to create Prisma Health - a private nonprofit health company and the largest health care organization in South Carolina serving almost 1.5 million unique patients annually in its 21-county market area.

​

Nonetheless, the Richland Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees remains an active board of dedicated community leaders that continue to support the foundational health care mission and vision of the county.

​

The Board was established to Act 1830 of 1971, Act 1485 of 1974, Act 430 of 1975, and Sections 2-326/2-328 of the County Code. It consists of 14 members: 12 appointed by the Governor upon recommendation of the County council, two ex-officio members appointed by the County Council. The terms are four years.