HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Tidelands Health is moving forward with plans for a new hospital in southern Horry County, the company said.

The Tidelands Health Carolina Bays Hospital campus, located at the interchange of Highway 31 and 707, will be home to a 24-bed long-term acute care hospital and a 36-bed rehabilitation hospital affiliated with Encompass Health, both of which have received final approval.

“With state certificates of need for the acute-care hospital, extended care hospital and inpatient rehabilitation hospital in hand, work now turns to permitting, architectural design and construction,” Tidelands said in a news release.

The facilities are tentatively projected to open in 2028. According to the company, they will offer advanced medical and surgical services, including a heart care institute and open-heart surgery program that will be a partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina.

“Horry County is home to the nation’s fastest-growing area, and the need for additional health care is clear,” said Bruce Bailey, Tidelands Health president and CEO. “As our region’s largest health care provider and MUSC Heath affiliate, Tidelands Health is committed to improving access to high-quality, compassionate health and wellness services for all those who call the Grand Strand home.”

Bailey said Tidelands is eager to move forward with the project.

“Since we first began serving our community in 1950, our health system has been guided by a singular mission to help people live better lives through better health,” Bailey said. “As Tidelands Health Carolina Bays Hospital, Tidelands Health Extended Care Hospital and Tidelands Health Rehabilitation Hospital become reality, we look forward to expanding needed health care services that we know will improve health and save lives.”