Mortgage Broker in Florence, SC

FLORENCE — Food Lion plans to open a store in Florence Mall in 2024, Food Lion Public Relations team member Katherine Kirby said in an email.

Piggly Wiggly closed its Florence Mall store on May 21, 2022. Piggly Wiggly had been an anchor store at Florence Mall for more than 50 years.

Florence Mall’s landlord exercised their option to end the Piggly Wiggly’s lease to put a larger grocery store chain into the location. Food Lion is the larger chain.

Renovation of the Florence Mall locations should begin soon.

Piggly Wiggly continues to have a presence in Florence with its Cherokee Road location.

Dr. Sasankoti Mohan Ravi Prakash is a new dentist at HopeHealth Medical Plaza in Florence.

Prakash earned his doctor of medicine degree in dentistry in 2022 from the Southern Illinois University School of Dentistry. He received his bachelor’s degree in dental surgery from SDM College of Dental Sciences and Hospital in India in 1999, and has master’s degree in dental surgery in oral medicine and radiology from KLE Dental College in India in 2002.

Prakash also is an independent researcher, who has more than 100 published scientific papers in peer-reviewed indexed journals. He also is an editorial board member for various journals.

His research was recognized as the best original research by the Indian Academy of Oral Medicine and Radiology in 2018 and was conferred the Dr. A.K. Bhoweer award. He is a member of the American Dental Association and Indian Academy of Oral Medicine and Radiology.

With more than 18 years of clinical, academic and research experience, Prakash is committed to providing quality dental care to adults and children. He has extensive knowledge and experience in providing dental care for individuals with complex systemic medical conditions, potentially malignant lesions and oro-facial pain management.

Biscuitville to open in Hartsville on July 18

FLORENCE — MUSC Health Florence Medical Center will be home to eight Internal Medicine residents starting in July.

MUSC also is planning for eight Family Medicine residents to start in 2025. Additionally, it is considering a rural track for Obstetricians/Gynecologists and Emergency Medicine programs.

The Medical University of South Carolina will establish a new Graduate Medical Education program through its Regional Health Network, which includes hospitals across the state. Medical school graduates may also be able to complete residency training at MUSC Health medical centers in Chester, Kershaw and Lancaster.

The program will start in Florence to combat the loss of medical students forced to leave South Carolina to find residencies and a lack of physicians in the Pee Dee and other rural areas.

Dr. Tsveti Markova, MUSC’s chief academic integration officer, said she is excited about the program in Florence.

“The educational opportunity is the best of both worlds,” she said. “Florence is a small community with a very intimate, individualized environment, where the residents could pretty much participate in any teaching moment, from the clinic or emergency room to the Intensive Care and Operating Rooms. It’s very one-on-one with the faculty preceptors.”

McLeod Health Regional Medical Center, another Florence hospital, also offers residency programs. It has a Family Medicine residency, rural Family Medicine residency and a pharmacy practice residence.

MUSC Health’s rural hospitals lack residencies. So the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will provide funding for the new program, which means they will have a sustainable future once they are established, Markova said.

The programs will improve the physician pipeline and the chances physicians trained in rural or underserved areas will remain there to practice as they become a part of those communities, Markova said.

Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin said the MUSC residency program will increase the number of doctors in the Pee Dee.

“With more resident physicians being able to reside in Florence, this will expand the potential for them to be lifelong citizens here,” Ervin said.

Medical school graduates need to complete graduate medical education programs or residencies to become licensed physicians, said Dr. Rami Zebian, chief medical officer of the MUSC Health-Pee Dee Division.

“The crux of the reason why we need GME is really to meet the needs of the community,” Zebian said. “South Carolina is one of the biggest exporters of medical students in the country.”

Many medical students graduate and have to go out of state for their residencies, Zebian said. Data shows many physicians often start their practices where they do their training.

The Florence Medical Center is large enough to support specialists and services but small enough that everyone knows each other by name.

Giving physicians the chance to learn in that kind of atmosphere is important.

“Our mission is to lead innovative GME programs where physicians in training develop clinical and professional competence to provide exceptional patient care in the communities they serve, with a special focus on rural and undeserved areas,” Markova said.

Daily Covid-19 admissions in the Florence County area

About the data

Data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalization data is a daily average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Florence County, an area which may be larger than Florence County itself.

The number of daily hospital admissions shows how many patients tested positive for Covid in hospitals and is one of the most reliably reported indicators of Covid’s impact on a community.

Total population

Ages 65 and up

Total population

Ages 65 and up

An updated vaccine is recommended for adults and most children. Statewide, 7% of vaccinations did not specify a home county.

Nearby hospitals

Share of I.C.U. beds occupied

About this data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: The hospitals map shows the average I.C.U. occupancy at nearby hospitals in the most recent week with data reported. The data is self-reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by individual hospitals. It excludes counts from hospitals operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service. Numbers for hospitalized patients are based on inpatient beds and include I.C.U. beds. Hospitalized Covid-19 patients include both confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023.

How trends have changed in Florence County

About this data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: Weekly county death data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. Hospitalization data is a weekly average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Florence County. Hospitalization numbers early in the pandemic are undercounts due to incomplete reporting by hospitals to the federal government.

Historical trends in Florence County

The data in these charts has been archived and they are no longer being updated.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data in these charts has been archived and they are no longer being updated. Weekly county case data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023. Test positivity data is based only on test results reported to the federal government and is a seven-day average.

The following content is available to all readers as a part of our public service coverage of Idalia’s impact to South Carolina. We rely on the support of our subscribers to pay for important work like this. Please consider subscribing today.

Updated at 11 a.m. Aug. 30.

FLORENCE — Hurricane Idalia made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida just before 8 a.m. Aug. 30 as a category 3 hurricane. The hurricane’s outer bands have brought cloud cover to the Pee Dee. Rain is expected from 11 a.m. Aug. 30 through 3 p.m. Aug. 31.

Idalia’s track takes the the eye of the storm from Savannah, Georgia through the lower portion of South Carolina. If the path doesn’t change, the hurricane will cross from land into the Atlantic Ocean between Charleston and Georgetown in the afternoon of Aug. 31.

There is a possibility of tornadoes as the hurricane treks through South Carolina.

The National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C. predicts rain and thunderstorm through the night Aug. 30 and into the afternoon Aug. 31.

Chesterfield, Marlboro and Dillon counties could experience 3 to 5 inches of rain Aug. 30-31. Clear skies will return by nightfall Aug. 31, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

Florence, Darlington, Marion and Lee counties will experience showers and thunderstorms through early afternoon Aug. 30. In the afternoon, thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are predicted. The heavy rain is expected to continue through the night of Aug. 30 and into the afternoon of Aug. 31.

Rainfall totals will range from 6 to 8 inches, according to the National Weather Service forecast. Areas that usually flood during heavy rains in the city of Florence and Florence County will likely flood again.

Idalia will bring heavy rain to Sumter, Williamsburg and Clarendon counties. The National Weather Service predicts between 5 and 8 inches of rain in those counties.

In Sumter County, the forecast calls for showers and storms starting in the late morning of Aug. 30 and continuing through the early morning on Aug. 31.

Kingstree in Williamsburg County also will experience between 5 and 8 inches of rain Aug. 30 and Aug. 31. The rain is likely to end before 8 a.m. Aug. 31.

Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Aug. 29 for South Carolina in preparations for Idalia.

The governor urged residents to make preparations for Idalia and keep track of the hurricane’s path and the forecast.

If Idalia continues on its track end exits South Carolina between Charleston and Georgetown on Aug. 31, it’s impact on Florence County won’t be as severe if the hurricane returned to the ocean between Myrtle Beach and Georgetown.

“Hopefully if it does that, we won’t have as much of an impact if it were to just run straight up the southeast inland area,” Florence County Emergency Division Deputy Director Kristy Burch said. “So preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.”

River flooding is not a concern due to the water levels being low already, allowing them to absorb more water without flooding, Burch said.

A majority of the dams in Florence County are considered low-hazard. Burch said dams in the county haven’t failed before in the past. There are a couple, though, that could “cause a lot of inconvenience at best” if they failed.

She said she didn’t expect dams to be an issue.

Some areas in the city of Florence that see significant flooding when heavy rain comes are the Cheves and Palmetto Street underpasses. Burch advised residents to not drive through flood water.

“You’re not sure what’s under there,” Burch said. “While you think there’s a road there, it may not be.”

The Florence County Emergency Management Division said in a Facebook post to move to higher ground if a flash flood is possible and not to move through moving water.

Hurricane Wire

3 min to read

The South Carolina Department of Transportation has a live map of road conditions, such as closures or blockages, on this website.

Some key points to remember when preparing for a hurricane include:

Some key items to include in your supplies also include bottled water, non-perishable food, a weather radio, flashlight, batteries, chargers, toiletries, blankets or sleeping bags.

The South Carolina Emergency Management Division released an updated hurricane guide. You can see it here.

Florence County government is offering 10,000 sandbags to those who want them on a first-come-first serve basis at 1221 Justice Way in Effingham. The bags are empty and sand is available to fill them. Citizens will have to fill them on their own.

When taking shelter, people should stay as far away from windows as possible and as far inside a building as possible on the lowest floor.

Hurricane shelters in Florence County include Wilson High School, Hannah-Pamplico Elementary/Middle School, Lake City High, Timmonsville Education Center and South Florence High School.

Schools across the Pee Dee have also changed their schedule as Idalia approaches. Florence County School District 1, 2 and 3 plan to have a remote learning day Aug. 31.

The Sumter County School District on Aug. 31 will have an e-learning day for all students in the district. Schools and office buildings will be closed and all activities, including athletic events and field trips, will be canceled.

FLORENCE — MUSC Health Florence Medical Center will be home to eight Internal Medicine residents starting in July.

MUSC also is planning for eight Family Medicine residents to start in 2025. Additionally, it is considering a rural track for Obstetricians/Gynecologists and Emergency Medicine programs.

The Medical University of South Carolina will establish a new Graduate Medical Education program through its Regional Health Network, which includes hospitals across the state. Medical school graduates may also be able to complete residency training at MUSC Health medical centers in Chester, Kershaw and Lancaster.

The program will start in Florence to combat the loss of medical students forced to leave South Carolina to find residencies and a lack of physicians in the Pee Dee and other rural areas.

Dr. Tsveti Markova, MUSC’s chief academic integration officer, said she is excited about the program in Florence.

“The educational opportunity is the best of both worlds,” she said. “Florence is a small community with a very intimate, individualized environment, where the residents could pretty much participate in any teaching moment, from the clinic or emergency room to the Intensive Care and Operating Rooms. It’s very one-on-one with the faculty preceptors.”

McLeod Health Regional Medical Center, another Florence hospital, also offers residency programs. It has a Family Medicine residency, rural Family Medicine residency and a pharmacy practice residence.

MUSC Health’s rural hospitals lack residencies. So the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will provide funding for the new program, which means they will have a sustainable future once they are established, Markova said.

The programs will improve the physician pipeline and the chances physicians trained in rural or underserved areas will remain there to practice as they become a part of those communities, Markova said.

Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin said the MUSC residency program will increase the number of doctors in the Pee Dee.

“With more resident physicians being able to reside in Florence, this will expand the potential for them to be lifelong citizens here,” Ervin said.

Medical school graduates need to complete graduate medical education programs or residencies to become licensed physicians, said Dr. Rami Zebian, chief medical officer of the MUSC Health-Pee Dee Division.

“The crux of the reason why we need GME is really to meet the needs of the community,” Zebian said. “South Carolina is one of the biggest exporters of medical students in the country.”

Many medical students graduate and have to go out of state for their residencies, Zebian said. Data shows many physicians often start their practices where they do their training.

The Florence Medical Center is large enough to support specialists and services but small enough that everyone knows each other by name.

Giving physicians the chance to learn in that kind of atmosphere is important.

“Our mission is to lead innovative GME programs where physicians in training develop clinical and professional competence to provide exceptional patient care in the communities they serve, with a special focus on rural and undeserved areas,” Markova said.

FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) — Ground was broken Wednesday morning in Florence County for a new, state-of-the-art electric vehicle battery factory that is expected to create nearly 1,200 jobs.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and other state and local leaders are attending the ceremony for the 1.5-million-square-foot plant, which is being built at the intersection of Estate Road and East Old Marion Highway across from Wilson High School.

“Our future, our success depends on three main pillars of our success,” McMaster said. “That’s an education strength, our economic strength and our environmental strength. And all three of those pillars are wrapped together like roots of a tree. If ones missing, the other two can’t hold it up.”

The plant, which is being built by AESC, a Japanese battery technology company, is expected to open in 2026 and created 1,170 jobs, officials said.

“Today, South Carolina is proud to celebrate AESC as the company embarks on a historic chapter in our state,” McMaster said. “Florence County has been ripe for an investment of this magnitude — one that will transform local communities and create generational wealth for South Carolinians. The groundbreaking for AESC’s battery cell gigafactory is a landmark moment in the evolution of South Carolina’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle industry.”

Jeff Deaton, AESC’s U.S. managing director, said the plant is another milestone for his company.

“AESC continues to be a global leader in developing next generation EV battery technology, and we’re proud to be further growing our capacity to build those products in U.S. facilities, accelerating the transition to clean energy transportation,” Deaton said.

Deaton also said the decision to invest in Florence County and in South Carolina was an easy one.

“SC is home to 500 automotive companies and is the number one exporter of passenger vehicles and also the number one producer of tires in the United States,” Deaton said. “So, our decision to invest in SC was an easy one.”

The plant will be a major boost for the region, Florence County Council Chairman Willard Dorriety said.

“AESC’s groundbreaking marks a historic day for Florence County and its residents, as it will bring an abundance of high paying jobs to our community,” he said. “We know AESC will be a vital and active partner in the County for decades to come.”

Florence Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin agreed.

“We are ecstatic about AESC’s decision to locate in Florence County and are honored to be celebrating this groundbreaking today alongside the community leaders whose collaboration made this project possible,” Myers Ervin said.

According to a news release, the 30 GWh battery plant builds on AESC’s existing battery manufacturing network that includes a plant in operation in Tennessee and another plant under construction in Kentucky.

“Collectively, AESC’s U.S. plants upon completion will provide up to 70 GWh capacity annually, powering the shift to electric vehicles with U.S.-made batteries and components,” the news release said.

The Florence location will support the company’s partnership with BMW Group, which was announced in October 2022. Under that agreement, AESC will provide battery cells for next- generation electric vehicles produced at BMW’s Spartanburg plant, the news release said.

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Aundrea Gibbons joined the News13 team in May 2023 after graduating from Clemson University with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and communication. Aundrea is a Marion native and graduated as salutatorian in 2019. Follow Aundrea on Twitter and read more of her work here.

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Dennis Bright is a digital producer at News13. Dennis is a West Virginia native and graduate of Marshall University. He has won copyediting and journalism awards in West Virginia and Ohio. Follow Dennis on Twitter and read more of his work here.

FLORENCE – Hundreds filled the seats and crowded around the edges as Florence celebrated the groundbreaking of the $810 million battery plant brought to the county by the electric vehicle battery manufacturer AESC.

It’s the biggest development in the area in recent memory.

“We’ve made history,” said Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin, one of multiple local and state officials to speak at the ceremony. “But history is actually building the future, for everyone here, but also for the generations to come.”

Elected officials, industry representatives and curious residents mingled beneath a white tent marking the spot where the 1.5 million square-foot plant will stand one day. They were eager to promote their organizations or businesses and take advantage of the growth promised by the Japanese company.

Jeff McKay, the executive director of the North Eastern Strategic Alliance, which promotes economic development across the Pee Dee, said he thinks the factory will raise fortunes throughout the region.

Calling the plant “transformational,” he said the workers and investment it brings will pave the way for future development in Florence and the rest of the region, both in related industries that follow in AESC’s footsteps and in other industries that are simply taking advantage of the growth it promotes.

“Our hopes and thoughts are that this will be felt throughout the breadth of the Pee Dee,” he said.

The AESC electric vehicle battery plant will be located on 876 acres across from Wilson High School in north Florence. The factory, which will create more than a thousand new jobs, will serve BMW’s electric vehicle plant in Spartanburg.

While representatives from many of Florence’s largest industries were present, so were representatives from its smaller industries.

TownePlace Suites General Manager Jenine Shaffer and assistant general manager Heather Harrelson were among a handful of hospitality industry representatives who attended the event to make connections and promote their businesses.

Already, TownePlace Suites and its sister hotels have seen people affiliated with AESC become customers. With more than a thousand workers heading to Florence in the coming years, Shaffer and Harrelson said, they’re optimistic their hotel will see even more growth in the near future.

In Florence’s tight housing market, some people relocating to the area end up temporarily staying in a hotel before moving into a permanent residence.

“Our property has an advantage, because we’re extended stay, so if they’re relocating people, it’s a good place to go,” Shaffer said.

Robert Ware, a member of Pee Dee Regional Airport Authority Board of Directors, said he hopes AESC will bring more customers to the airport, especially after business tumbled during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was at the event to promote the Florence airport as a more convenient option compared to those in Columbia or Myrtle Beach.

“We’re a small airport, but we want to grow,” Ware said, adding “We’re about to find out if we’re ready for that.”

Harold Frasier lives just down the road from the AESC plant, on Tradd Court, in the same house he’s lived in since 1978. He said he plans to report back to his neighbors about the event.

Frasier had nothing but good things to say about the potential impact of the plant on the area. He hoped it would improve the economy and provide more opportunities for workers.

“We need more industry on this side of town,” he said.

Those hoping the AESC plant will raise their fortunes may have a little longer to wait, though. The plant is scheduled to be fully up and running by the end of 2025.