NOVEMBER 15 - 21, 2018 WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
BEAUFORT’S HEALTH CARE PIONEERS
Local surgeons celebrate 35 years of caring for the community In celebration of the 35th anniversary of Beaufort Memorial Surgical Specialists, founding physician Dr. Tim Pearce treated himself to a perk he rarely enjoyed in the first three decades of his career – a full night’s sleep. When the board-certified general surgeon opened shop as a sole practitioner Nov. 7, 1983, he joined Drs. Richard “Dick” Price and Charles “Tony” Bush as the only surgeons in private practice in the Beaufort area. “Back then we did a lot of major traumas,” Pearce recalled. “It was a rare night when the pager didn’t go off. I would operate on a gunshot wound in the middle of the night, then go into the office the next day and see patients with perforated ulcers or gallbladder disease.” Now part of the Beaufort Me-
morial Physician Partners network, Surgical Specialists has come a long way since those early years when Pearce was on call 24/7, serving both Beaufort Memorial Hospital and the Naval Hospital. Today, the practice includes four general surgeons and the only vascular surgeon in Beaufort, as well as a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant and an additional staff of 11 medical assistants and administrators. Over the years, the team has adopted new approaches and advanced technology to improve patient outcomes. “When laparoscopic gallbladder surgery took off in the early ‘90s, we realized it was something we needed to learn,” Pearce said. “Patients did so much better with
minimally invasive surgery. It was just stunning.” In recent years, several of the surgeons have received advanced training in the da Vinci Surgical System and now perform state-ofthe art, robot-assisted procedures, including single-site gallbladder surgery, ventral and inguinal hernia repairs, colon resection and Nissen fundoplication for severe acid reflux disease. From the start, Pearce was always prepared to adjust the practice to meet the needs of the community. In 1989, he added his first partner, board-certified general surgeon Dr. Gordon Krueger, a former Navy surgeon who had been practicing in Manning. SEE SURGEONS, PAGE A6
Beaufort Memorial Surgical Specialists Chad Tober, Stephen Sisco, Tim Pearce, Gordon Krueger, Deanna Mansker and Perry Burrus photographed together prior to Krueger's 2012 retirement. When Pearce started the practice in November, 1983, he was only the third surgeon to join the hospital’s medical staff.
Preserving The Past Penn Center celebrates annual Heritage Days
Hundreds of people took advantage of free admission to the annual Penn Center Heritage Days celebration on the Penn Center grounds Saturday, Nov. 10. Clockwise from above: The Glover Sisters, Jamie, left, Mary and Betsy sing a crowd favorite “O, Happy Day” on Saturday during the annual celebration; Anastasia Simmons, center left, shows her children how to operate the mechanical bubble blower; Anita Prather as Aunt Perlie Sue welcomes a large crowd to the celebration. Photos by Bob Sofaly.
Voters approve local ballot issues, Cunningham scores upset in SC-1 Beaufort County voters overwhelmingly favored two ballot measures last week, voting to approve a one-cent transportation sales and use tax and a bond issue to fund the county’s Rural and Critical Lands program. The transportation tax passed with nearly 58 percent of the vote, delivering up to $120 million for projects throughout the county, including $80 million for road and bridge improvements along the U.S. 278 corridor onto Hilton Head Island, $30 million for projects along the Lady’s Island corridor, and $10 million for multi-use pathways throughout the county designed to provide safer access to schools and residential neighborhoods. "Passage of this measure was critically important to Lady's Island, where $30 million will be spent on road improvements," said Chuck Newton, chair of the Sea Island Corridor Coalition. "Our Coalition began pressing City and County officials for these improvements more two years ago, and they responded with a detailed traffic study and identification of nine key improvement projects on Lady's Island. To have Beaufort County voters support this funding for these projects is exceptionally gratifying, and while work will be done over a several year period, we look forward to getting work underway.” The additional penny sales tax increase is expected to be effective on January 1. All revSEE VOTERS, PAGE A6 We are. Accreditation
MOVING DOWNTOWN Beaufort Bread Company opens second location on Bay Street.
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MASTER IN THE CLASSROOM Beaufort Academy’s Paula Quinn named SCISA Master Teacher. PAGE B2
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