Bluffton Hospital: What’s Opening and Where to Go Now
Bluffton’s first hospital, Beaufort Memorial’s, takes patients in early 2027, and Novant’s larger one follows. Here is where to go until then.
Bluffton has grown faster than its health care, and for now there is no Bluffton hospital where you can stay overnight. That changes in early 2027, when Beaufort Memorial opens its Bluffton Community Hospital, and again later in the decade, when Novant Health builds a larger one nearby. Until they open, Bluffton’s two 24-hour emergency rooms handle emergencies, and patients who need a bed go to a hospital on Hilton Head, in Hardeeville or in Savannah. Call 911 for anything life-threatening rather than driving yourself.
Beaufort Memorial Bluffton Community Hospital
Bluffton’s first full-service hospital is going up at 10 Innovation Drive, where Bluffton Parkway meets Buckwalter Parkway. The building was topped out in December 2025, and Beaufort Memorial expects to take its first patients in early 2027. It is a $103 million hospital with 28 inpatient beds.
A 24-hour emergency department
A surgery center and a cardiac catheterization lab
Imaging and diagnostic testing
An inpatient nursing unit with 28 beds
It is not open yet, so do not drive there in an emergency. Next door, Livewell Terrace, a 120-apartment community Beaufort Memorial is building with Woda Cooper Companies, opens in spring 2027.
Novant Health’s Bluffton Hospital
Novant Health, which runs the hospital on Hilton Head, has state approval for a $320 million, 50-bed hospital on about 18 acres on Bluffton Parkway, just west of Buckwalter Parkway and about a mile from its Parkside Drive ER. It is designed to grow to 100 beds later.
The Town of Bluffton reviewed the final plans in August 2026. Novant expects to break ground in early 2027, and building takes about two years, so the hospital would open around 2029. Once it does, Novant will decide whether to keep the Parkside Drive ER as it is.
Where to Go Until They Open
Both of Bluffton’s emergency rooms are run by Novant Health and are open 24 hours a day. They treat emergencies, but neither has beds for an overnight stay, so a patient who needs to be admitted is moved to a hospital. The nearest one is Novant Health Hilton Head Medical Center, just over the bridges; the Coastal Carolina hospital in Hardeeville is the other way, near I-95. Serious trauma goes to Memorial Health in Savannah. For walk-in clinics for smaller problems, see urgent care in Bluffton.
A 24-hour emergency room at 349 Tidewatch Drive, open every day of the year.
A freestanding 24-hour ER at 8 Parkside Drive with 10 treatment rooms and a trauma room, opened in July 2026.
The nearest hospital with beds today, just over the bridges on the north end of Hilton Head Island.
The former Coastal Carolina Hospital, a 41-bed hospital by US 278 and I-95, west of Bluffton.
The region’s Level I trauma center and children’s hospital, where the most serious injuries are taken.
Bluffton Medical Buildings That Aren’t Hospitals
Two large medical buildings in Bluffton look like hospitals but don’t admit patients. The MUSC Health Bluffton Medical Pavilion, across from the new Beaufort Memorial hospital, has outpatient care and no inpatient beds. St. Joseph’s/Candler’s Bluffton campus on Buckwalter Place Boulevard has cancer care and imaging, weekdays only, and no emergency room. For a regular doctor, see doctors in Bluffton, and for the hospital on the island, see Hilton Head hospital and urgent care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Updated
Is there a hospital in Bluffton, SC?
Not one that admits patients yet. Beaufort Memorial Bluffton Community Hospital, at 10 Innovation Drive, expects its first patients in early 2027. Until then, Bluffton has two 24-hour emergency rooms, and the nearest hospital with beds is on Hilton Head Island.
When will the new Bluffton hospital open?
Beaufort Memorial’s 28-bed hospital expects its first patients in early 2027. Novant Health’s 50-bed hospital is due to break ground in early 2027 and take about two years to build, so it would open around 2029.
Where is the new Beaufort Memorial hospital in Bluffton?
At 10 Innovation Drive, at the corner of Bluffton Parkway and Buckwalter Parkway.
Where will Novant’s Bluffton hospital be?
On about 18 acres on Bluffton Parkway, just west of Buckwalter Parkway, about a mile from Novant’s emergency room on Parkside Drive.
What is the closest hospital to Bluffton right now?
Novant Health Hilton Head Medical Center, just over the bridges on Hilton Head Island. Novant Health Coastal Carolina Medical Center in Hardeeville is the other nearby hospital.
Is MUSC Health Bluffton a hospital?
No. The MUSC Health Bluffton Medical Pavilion is an outpatient building with no inpatient beds.
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