A 10-minute read for the Advisor delivering Phase 1 into SC. Structure, leadership window, sector targets, PHIT data feeds, and the seven facts to anchor every conversation.
What you say first in every SC meeting.
South Carolina joins Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Ohio as a Phase 1 player in The Force for Health® Network's National Chamber of Health® System. We tee up the state with one State Chamber, four Regional Chambers (Greater Columbia · Greater Greenville · Greater Charleston · Greater Rural), and a Tribal Sub-Chamber covering the Catawba Nation and nine state-recognized tribes. Every Regional Director boots on Day 1 with a pre-loaded Director's Table of 130+ named SC leaders, a 90-day campaign calendar, PHIT data feeds from SC DPH + SC RFA + County Health Rankings + USC Arnold + DAODAS already wired, and the Lexington County + Capital Region as the proving ground for the full statewide system.
Seven moment-of-truth facts the Advisor uses to anchor every SC conversation.
Prisma Health Midlands (Jennifer Montgomery, May 2025) + Lexington Health (Kirk Jenkins, Jan 1 2026) — both in their first ~7 months. Rare window for legacy-defining partnerships.
SC is one of 10 remaining non-expansion states. ~100K+ adults in the coverage gap. FQHCs absorbing the load. This is the central political fact of every SC health pitch.
The old SC DHEC was split into the SC Dept of Public Health (Dr. Edward Simmer, interim) and Environmental Services. Use DPH — anyone still saying "DHEC" is two years out of date.
MUSC Health is aggressively acquiring regional systems (Lancaster · Florence-area · Tidelands fall 2026). Treat Cole + Cawley as state-level anchors, not just Lowcountry.
Five rural hospital closures in 15 years (Williamsburg Regional, Marlboro Park, Bamberg, Lake City, others in distress). Every Greater Rural conversation acknowledges this.
SC has the 2nd-highest density of HBCUs in the country — SC State, Claflin, Benedict, Allen, Voorhees, Morris, Denmark Tech. Standing Tier 1 invites.
Clements retired 12/31/2025. Bob Jones interim from 1/1/2026. Permanent successor announced ~5/27/2026 (today). Verify name before sending materials.
Active SLED investigation re: Chief Brian Harris (opened 3/18/2025). Route ALL tribal outreach through the SC Commission for Community Advancement & Engagement (state Native American liaison) first.
SC mirrors the AZ/PA/OH gameplan exactly. The State Director sees everything; each Regional Director sees their slice.
| Region | Counties | Anchor Health Systems | Leaders Pre-Loaded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Columbia (Phase 1 proving ground) | Lexington · Richland | Prisma Midlands · Lexington Health | 33 |
| Greater Greenville | Greenville · Spartanburg · Pickens · Anderson | Prisma Upstate · Bon Secours St. Francis | 20 |
| Greater Charleston | Charleston · Berkeley · Dorchester | MUSC · Roper St. Francis | 21 |
| Greater Rural | 30+ counties (Pee Dee · Lakelands · Grand Strand · rural LC · rural Upstate) | McLeod · Self Regional · Tidelands · Beaufort Memorial · 4 FQHC networks | 35 |
130+ vetted leaders pre-loaded as of activation day. Hand-verified currents where possible; TBD markers for any leader whose officeholder requires a 24-hour pre-handoff verification.
| Sector | Pre-loaded | Anchor names (named/confirmed) |
|---|---|---|
| 🏥 Healthcare | 38 | Kirby (SCHA) · Cole + Cawley (MUSC) · Montgomery (Prisma Midlands) · Jenkins (Lexington Health) · Caldwell (Bon Secours) · DeLeon (Roper) · Isgett (McLeod) · Logan (Self) · Bailey (Tidelands) · Baxley (Beaufort Mem) |
| 🎓 Education | 35 | Amiridis (USC) · Hsu (College of Charleston) · Royster (Greenville Schools) · Huggins (Charleston CSD) · Walker (Richland 1) · Moore (Richland 2) · Ross (Lex-Rich 5) · Atkinson (Lex 3) · Weaver (SC DOE) |
| 🏛️ Public Sector | 28 | Gov McMaster · Lt Gov Evette · Simmer MD (DPH) · Adams (SCORH) · Verdin (Senate Med) · Davis (House Med) · Rickenmann (Columbia) · Cogswell (Charleston) · Burgess (N Charleston) |
| 🏢 Private Sector | 8 | BCBS SC · BMW · Michelin NA · Boeing SC · AgFirst · Dominion Energy SC |
| 💰 Non-Profit / Funders | 17 | Hollowell (Duke Endowment) · Waites (Sisters of Charity Found.) · Nicholson (Self Family Found.) · Goss (Coastal Community Found.) · BCBS SC Foundation · SCHA Foundation · United Ways (Midlands · Greenville · Trident) |
| 🪶 Tribal | 11 | Chief Brian Harris (Catawba) · Chief Pete Parr (Pee Dee Indian Tribe) · 8 state-recognized tribes · state liaison |
Full table is live at /chamber-of-health/south-carolina/directors-table/. Filter by region, sector, or tier.
Validated SC data sources Phase 1 is wired to consume. Three priority feeds are wired first (highest leverage for the state-handoff narrative).
| Source | What it gives PHIT | Cadence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| County Health Rankings (RWJF + UW PHI) | 46-county composite rankings + health factors | Annual Q1 | ✅ Live (Lex + Richland deep-pilot) |
| CDC PLACES | Block-group SDOH + chronic-disease prevalence statewide | Annual | ✅ Live |
| SC DPH (post-2024 split) | County-level mortality, BRFSS, communicable disease, maternal/child | Mostly annual, some monthly | 🟡 Wiring (Priority 1) |
| SC RFA APCD | All-payer claims database — utilization, hospital discharge, vital stats | Quarterly to annual | 🟡 Wiring (Priority 2) |
| SCDHHS Medicaid | Healthy Connections enrollment + utilization (non-expansion framing) | Monthly–quarterly | 🟡 Wiring (Priority 3) |
| SCORH | Rural provider shortage maps, HPSA, county-level rural indicators | Annual | 🟡 Wiring |
| USC Arnold School of Public Health | Rural & Minority Health Research Center — chronic + behavioral analytics | Project-based | 🟡 Wiring |
| DAODAS / SC Opioid Recovery Fund | ~$360M settlement allocation + county-level OUD treatment data | Quarterly | 🟡 Wiring |
| HRSA UDS (FQHCs) | SCPHCA member-center clinical + access data | Annual | 🟡 Wiring |
When the Advisor is asked "what are you actually asking us to do," this is the answer.
A seat at the Director's Table (named on the leader roster). Live access to the State + Regional dashboards with their sector's PHIT data. Co-branded events, Reality Health Games activations, and Train-the-Brain games in their geography. A line into the Phase 1 advocacy + grant pipeline.
A standing convening voice — quarterly Director's Roundtable + sector-specific summits. Co-design rights on activations in their footprint. Optional sponsor / funder pathway through the FFH Academy Foundation (PPF-routed; tax-deductible).
(1) Confirm a sector representative who'll attend the first Director's Roundtable. (2) Identify one current SC initiative the Chamber can amplify rather than duplicate. (3) Share one open dataset / annual report we can flow into PHIT.
Week 1: Advisor handoff + State Director's Table demo. Weeks 2-4: Tier 1 outreach (78 leaders). Weeks 5-8: First Director's Roundtable + Capital Region launch event. Q3-Q4 2026: Regional Director onboarding, three additional regions activate.
If the Advisor only has three SC calls to make this week, this is the order.
The State Director's Table is loaded with 130+ leaders. The four Regional Chamber pages are live. The PHIT tiles are wired. Open and walk a SC contact through it on screen.
SC Chamber Hub → State Director's Table → Sector One-Pagers →