Mobile Home Sales in Orangeburg, SC

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - New details following a plane crash out of Orangeburg County show what a man witnessed moments before the aircraft went down.

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was a “Beechcraft Bonanza 35″ that crashed in a field behind Bethel Fellowship church before catching fire and killing the pilot.

The pilot declared an emergency engine failure before the accident, the FAA said.

“I saw it fly right above me,” said Jessie Apple who was working in his shed outside when he saw the plane just seconds before it crashed, “I noticed it was pretty low, but I didn’t think much of it.”

The crash happened Saturday morning, according to the FAA.

Investigators said the aircraft took off from Lowcountry Regional Airport in Walterboro and was heading to Jim Hamilton – LB Owens Airport in Columbia.

“I just wished that it wouldn’t have ended that way. I wish it would’ve ended safer. I don’t know if anyone could’ve helped, but it is scary that it could’ve hit anyone around here,” said Apple.

The accident happened 11 miles away from the Orangeburg Municipal Airport. Apple said where his home is located it’s not unusual to see planes flying over his house.

“Yeah, I see the military jets all the time and with the airport, but I mean this wasn’t an airline. I noticed that,” said Apple.

Investigators were on the scene Saturday night looking for surveillance footage, collecting witness statements, and documenting the accident site.

Because that plane caught fire, Orangeburg County Coroner Samuetta Marshall said they will not identify the victim just yet. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the preliminary report, which will detail the facts and circumstances of the accident, is expected in 2-3 weeks.

The final report, including the probable cause and any contributing factors, is scheduled for 12-24 months.

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Clemson Rural Health continues to expand health care services to South Carolinians with the opening of a new clinic in Orangeburg. The Clemson Health Clinic at Orangeburg (CHC-O) is the third Clemson-run clinic to open and will provide life-saving services in a largely underserved part of the state, both through fixed health care facilities and mobile health units.

Elected and appointed officials who attended a May 25 ribbon-cutting hailed the partnerships that made the clinic a reality and celebrated its opening as transformative.

Clemson Rural Health is part of the Clemson University College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences and an extension of the University’s land-grant mission.

Clemson Rural Health has served the Lowcountry for over a decade through mobile health clinics but was restricted by travel distances from their home base in Walhalla. This new hub clinic, located at 1181 Hutto Street in Orangeburg, will allow Clemson to have a consistent and elevated impact on the health and well-being of Orangeburg, Bamberg, Barnwell and Calhoun counties.

The full-time, fully staffed primary care facility will provide in-person appointments, telehealth and remote patient monitoring along with two mobile health units for outreach into rural counties, and a highly qualified, multidisciplinary team to the community. Led by nurse practitioner, Donna Atkinson, a prominent certified diabetes care and education specialist in the region, the clinic will heavily focus on chronic disease prevention and management.

The May ribbon-cutting event included tours of the brick-and-mortar clinic and its brand-new mobile health units, free blood pressure checks, a healthy cooking demonstration and refreshments.

More information about the future of the CHC-O and Clemson Rural Health’s impact on the state of South Carolina can be found in the 2022 Fiscal Year Impact Report.

The Clemson Health Clinic at Orangeburg is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To schedule an appointment, call 803-516-4227. Learn more at clemsonruralhealth.org.

More information about the future of the CHC-W and Clemson Rural Health’s impact on the state of South Carolina can be found in the 2022 Fiscal Year Impact Report.

ORANGEBURG — Isolated from downtown by train tracks and highways, parts of Orangeburg are crumbling. So the community has staked its hope in a federally funded footbridge and transportation hub to revive the once-thriving area.

The $22.8 million tranche allocated to rebuilding downtown Orangeburg comes as a RAISE grant, part of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law aimed at restoring U.S. infrastructure in rural and urban areas, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia announced on June 28.

“Even though by definition, transportation is about connection, we often see how assets having to do with transportation serve to divide,” Buttigieg said. “We see a very stark example of that right at the site of this project, where thoroughfares and a railway divide a community from the opportunities that are on the other side of the tracks.”

Through this grant program, South Carolina is one of nine states awarded federal dollars to build out its infrastructure announced today.

The project site, named Railroad Corner, was once a hub of Black businesses that Clyburn said he remembers frequenting growing up. Now, the spot is recognized by the Census Bureau as being in consistent poverty, Clyburn said.

“The infrastructure to do what needs to be done is here,” Clyburn said. “But we are now developing it.”

The $22.8 million will fund a footbridge that will extend over the two state highways that run through Orangeburg, connecting residential neighborhoods and the campuses of South Carolina State University and Claflin University to the downtown Orangeburg business district.

There will be a transportation hub that includes a new public transit stop, charging stations for electric vehicles and a public parking structure. Additionally, the project will build out the city’s crosswalks and sidewalks.

With its proposal to revive Orangeburg, South Carolina snagged a chunk of the $2.26 billion that the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded through the RAISE grant program this year. The U.S. DOT received $15 billion in requests, Buttigieg said.

“I must admit,” Clyburn said, “when I first saw the budget, how much this was going to cost, I said ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ So Secretary (Buttigieg), thank you for making me look good.”

Work on the project is expected to begin by 2024, Orangeburg City Administrator Sidney Evering said.

“We certainly understand the community’s anxiousness about getting this project done, but we want to get it done right,” Evering said.

Surgeon Lucius Craig, M.D., chief of the medical staff at what was the Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, is happy that it’s now part of MUSC Health. “This is going to improve care in this area for today and for our children's grandchildren, in this area. That is amazing, and we're all a part of that,” Craig said at a ceremony marking the occasion.

“This is a part of history. Local and county officials, and also the state legislators, saw the importance of the role that this hospital plays in the delivery of care in this area and in South Carolina. To that effect, we explored options for an affiliation with a larger health care system. Ultimately, we determined that MUSC will be the most beneficial option.”

The Regional Medical Center and MUSC Health reached a long-term lease and operations agreement, announced on March 1. The goal is to improve research and access to health care in rural areas and communities that don’t have enough medical options. MUSC Health will run not only the Orangeburg hospital but also an Emergency Department in Barnwell and clinics serving patients in Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg counties.

Many speakers at the celebration credited the deal to the efforts of state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter. She’d been worried about the hospital’s financial well-being and future and was thrilled to see it join MUSC Health.

“Do y'all know that less than 10 months ago, this proviso, y'all, was inserted into the state budget, suggesting to MUSC that they create this partnership? And Lord, here we are less than a year later,” Cobb-Hunter told the crowd gathered in a tent on the Orangeburg hospital’s campus.

The partnership was also welcome news to James Lemon, D.M.D., chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Medical University of South Carolina, for personal reasons. “My hometown Barnwell, South Carolina, is 35 miles from here. So this area is very close to my heart. I've been treated in this hospital. It is close to many of you today, and this is a momentous occasion for those of us who have lived here and live here,” he said.

“We have a higher purpose as our state's only comprehensive academic health system. It's a great privilege, duty and responsibility to the citizens of South Carolina to deliver outstanding – outstanding – health care, educate future health care providers, and through research, we must help increase and improve the health and wellness of our entire state.”

A fellow MUSC Board of Trustees member, Barbara Johnson-Williams, spoke as well. She lives in Orangeburg, sometimes called “the Garden City.” It’s home to between 12,000 and 13,000 people and has two well-known college campuses: Claflin University and South Carolina State University as well as Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College.

“This community deserves respect, compassion, collaboration, integrity and innovation. And at its core, these values are what drive MUSC forward and make necessary advances, changes and improvement in local care delivery,” she said.

“I'm thrilled that as a result of this new relationship, our community is going to have health care, as it's so richly deserved, right here in our backyard with an unprecedented level of connectivity to the highest specialized care that MUSC is known for.”

State Rep. Russell Ott was equally jubilant, calling the event a historic celebration. State Sen. Vernon Stephens drove the point home, praising the fact that rural health care is improving in quality and becoming more accessible and affordable.

“When you look at the Regional Medical Center and where we were and where we should have been and where we are going, you can only say, ‘Thank God,’ for he has truly smiled down upon us. And it is our day; it is our day to be excited about living in rural South Carolina,” Stephens said.

MUSC President David Cole, M.D., emphasized the value of having good care close to home. “We know that strong health care facilities are often at the heart of a community's long-term success. My belief is together we'll be able to ensure the health care and well-being of this community and be an asset for the economic growth and the economic future. I have high confidence that we will succeed as we continue to move forward. This new relationship today is a key first step.”

MUSC Health CEO Patrick Cawley, M.D., described what the relationship will mean for the Orangeburg hospital and its affiliated clinics. “First, we're going to recruit more physicians, more nurses, more allied health workers to meet specific community needs most effectively. Second of all, we'll develop and apply best practices to improve care delivery and to decrease health disparities. Third of all, we'll look at implementing and expanding telehealth services and use technology to enhance quality, safety and access to care,” Cawley said.

“It also means offering health care providers and clinical staff training and skilled development opportunities. It also means establishing future graduate medical education opportunities, which is important for MUSC.”

Cole later toured the Orangeburg hospital with chief operating officer Sabrina Robinson. She said she’s excited about the changes coming to her campus. One key change sprang to mind. “Access. Access for our patients, bringing them back home. Bringing our employees back home. Employees and patients both leave the market. So we’ll be able to care for them here.”

Employees on hand for the celebration enjoyed snacks and got MUSC Health bags and other gifts to mark their new affiliation. That included certified nursing assistant Rosalind Curry. “I think it’s going to be an awesome time. I think it’s going to be really good,” she said.

Crystal Frazier, an onboarding coordinator in Human Resources, said the agreement means new ways of working. “I like it. It’s so different from what we had. The programs, the process of onboarding and orientation. Systems also.”

Craig, the surgeon who led the celebration, said the new ways are welcome. “This is a win-win for this community and also for MUSC.”

First patients arrive at MUSC Health Black River Medical Center in rural Williamsburg County, grateful for high-tech hospital close to home.

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