Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital officially opened its newly expanded pharmacy in a recently constructed annex, a major milestone in a broader hospital expansion that will ultimately double its bed count.
The pharmacy has grown from a 2,108-square-foot space to 4,629 square feet and now operates 24/7, with teams working around the clock to meet the evolving needs of a growing patient population.
This expansion marks ones of several campus updates taking place throughout summer and fall 2025 that align with Roper St. Francis Healthcare 2030 Strategic Plan initiatives of optimizing the system’s footprint and addressing future clinical needs of the community.
Patrick Bosse, chief administrative officer of Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital, said the pharmacy expansion is a crucial step that opens space for additional support services and allows the hospital to relocate the pre-op and PACU units and start the renovation of its existing space.
“Our hospital has been bursting at the seams since the day it opened,” Bosse said. “It’s incredibly exciting to see years of planning now taking shape. Expanding the lab and pharmacy were essential first steps in preparing for the larger patient care areas still to come.”
Since opening in 2019 as Berkeley County’s first full-service hospital in more than four decades, the campus at 100 Callen Blvd. in Summerville has seen tremendous demand. To meet the community’s needs, the expansion project is boosting the hospital’s acute-care capacity from 50 beds to 100 while adding 200,000 square feet of new or renovated space to the existing 116,000-square-foot facility.
To support this growth, Roper St. Francis Healthcare has been recruiting new teammates to fill about 500 roles. Within the pharmacy alone, the team has grown from 14 to 32 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, enabling full-time, onsite coverage for the first time.
Pharmacy manager Doug Hammond expressed that the move and expansion was a team effort that took a lot of thoughtful planning and operational precision.
“I’ve been with the system for over fifteen years and helped open this hospital in 2019,” he said. “We had an amazing team before the expansion began, and I’m thrilled to say our newly expanded crew is just as amazing. I’m proud of this team and what we’ll continue to accomplish together.”
The new pharmacy includes several infrastructure and safety upgrades:
- An updated medication carousel that saves space and improves tracking and efficiency.
- An expanded cleanroom suite with positive pressure sterile rooms for IV meds and negative pressure rooms for hazardous drug prep.
- A walk-in cooler that supports emergency refrigerated medication storage during systemwide emergencies.
- A modular shelving system to increase storage capacity.
- A negative-pressure hazardous drug storage room to improve safety and compliance.
For the team working in the pharmacy, the expanded pharmacy footprint has made a noticeable difference in day-to-day operations.
“The extra space has made it much easier for the team to move efficiently throughout the day,” Hammond explained. “The new layout really cuts down on unnecessary foot traffic and makes our workflows smoother.”
The pharmacy’s opening follows Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital’s newer and larger lab, which opened June 2. Next up, the pre-op and PACU spaces later this month, an expanded emergency department in July and a new bed tower opening in November.
The lab and pharmacy’s move into the new wing gives the next-door perioperative area some room to grow as well. Construction crews will start renovations that will culminate in a larger perioperative unit next spring.