USC Salkehatchie brings monthly health care, mental health services onsite

USC Salkehatchie has turned its Allendale campus into more than a place for classes. Through new partnerships with Low Country Health Care System and Coastal Empire Community Mental Health Center, the campus now hosts recurring medical and mental health services onsite, making it the first University of South Carolina regional campus to offer that kind of access directly to students, faculty, staff and nearby residents.

The schedule is built for routine access. Low Country Health Care System brings its mobile unit to the Conference Center parking lot on the fourth Tuesday of every month from 9 a.m. to noon. The service includes sick visits, physicals, well-visit screenings and immunizations. Coastal Empire’s Highway to Hope program comes to the same location every fourth Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering confidential mental-health conversations, information about stress, anxiety and depression, and guidance on the agency’s mobile crisis program.

That recurring calendar matters in Allendale County, where access to care is tight. The county had 8,039 residents in the 2020 census, and state and federal health workforce tools flag shortages in both primary care and mental health. One county health profile describes Allendale County as having only one hospital serving the area. In that setting, USC Salkehatchie’s campus has become a place where care can be reached without a long drive, a missed class or a delay that turns a small concern into a bigger one.

Low Country Health Care System says it serves patients regardless of ability to pay and offers discounts on a sliding-fee scale based on family size and income. That makes the monthly clinic especially important for households that might otherwise put off care because of cost. Coastal Empire Community Mental Health Center says it provides outpatient services for children, adolescents, adults and families in Allendale and surrounding counties, along with emergency services, case management, outpatient counseling and psychiatric treatment.

The campus model also extends the role USC Salkehatchie plays in the county. Allendale County Hospital, established in 1950, says it provides general medical and surgical care and employs about 200 people across the hospital and affiliates. Together, the hospital, the campus and the two community providers are building a more visible local safety net, one that places health care in a parking lot at the center of daily life in Allendale.