The leaders of Greenville Hospital System, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Palmetto Health, and the University of South Carolina (USC) today signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the South Carolina Health Sciences Collaborative (SCHSC). The unprecedented initiative calls for four of the state's largest universities and health systems to invest a total of $80 million over the next ten years to increase health sciences research, drive economic development, and improve the health status of the citizens of South Carolina.

Making the announcement were Greenville Hospital System CEO Frank Pinckney, MUSC President Dr. Ray Greenberg, Palmetto Health CEO Kester Freeman, and USC President Dr. Andrew Sorensen.

The investment will be structured so that each partner intends to contribute $2 million per year--a total of $8 million per year-- which is eligible for matching contributions from the South Carolina Research Centers of Economic Excellence Act, also known as the Endowed Chairs Program. This brings the monies available for health sciences research to $16 million per year, $160 million for ten years. The Endowed Chairs Program creates incentives for endowments for professors in research areas, which in turn spur economic development for the state of South Carolina.

The total investment in health sciences research has the potential to be significantly higher than $160 million. The presence of a formal research entity like the SCHSC greatly increases South Carolina's ability to secure funding from other sources such as the State's Life Sciences Act, the federal government, national research foundations and private entities. It also provides the stimulus for attracting private businesses interested in tapping into the intellectual capital that will result from the endowed chairs' research.

Calling the announcement "historic," Greenville Hospital Systems' Pinckney sai
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Contact: Robyn Zimmerman
rzimmerman@ghs.org
864-455-1422
Greenville Hopsital System
26-Apr-2004

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