Council members gather info ahead of their vote

Under a new name, two South Carolina hospital providers are asking county councils in their service counties to sign off on a bond issue that will enable them to refinance debt as the company South Carolina Health Care. But the savings that’ll be derived from re-financing the debt facing Oconee Memorial, in the words of Edda Cammick, will be minimal because Oconee’s bonds are at a variable rate and fluctuate in the market. Cammick, the chair of Oconee County Council, says, “The most savings will be realized from PH (the Palmetto Health) debt.” Palmetto Health of the Midlands and GHS, the Greenville Hospital System, form the new partnership. Both Cammick and District Four’s Julian Davis took part in a meeting yesterday at the Oconee hospital where they got a better understanding of the debts that both GHS and Palmetto Health face. Cammick said after yesterday’s meeting, “I have no issue with refinancing debt but nothing they said made me comfortable with this giant healthcare conglomerate that’s being created.” Davis described yesterday’s meeting as helpful, but he says he does not know how he’ll vote when the matter is expected to re-surface during council’s meeting next week.  Cammick renewed a request for an ambulance to be based in Salem and hints that the hospital’s decision on that could well affect the council vote on the refinancing of the bonds. She said, “The truth is we need more ambulances in the entire county but based on call volume, the greater Salem area is first in line.”