It was two and a half years ago when MUSC announced it was expanding its hospital, and today the Ashley River Tower opened for business. It took eight hours, but MUSC managed to transport a total of 60 patients from the main hospital on Johnathan Lucas Blvd, two blocks over to the new Ashley River Tower which houses the hospital's new cardiac and digestive diseases centers.

They arrived one at a time and sometimes back to back. The move was compared to a mass casualty exercise and was coordinated by a command center on the first floor.

“It's almost a military command style movement of people from one place to the other,” a nurse said. “Making sure that they're safe and that when they get here they have nurses and physicians to take care of them.”

Heart Patient Mike Dalton is all settled into his new room which features internet capabilities. He was one of the first patients to be brought over.

“I walked out, got in the ambulance, sat down and then got here about five minutes later -  ten minutes maybe -  and got out and walked in here,” Ashley River Tower Patient, Dalton said.

Dalton.is scheduled for double by-pass surgery. He’s originally from Murrells Inlet, one of the growing numbers of out of town patients who will utilize this facility.

“Those patient groups are increasing in number. Our reputation has gone up both on the cardiac and GI side and we get a lot of referrals from North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia not only our own patients in South Carolina but from all over as a tertiary referral center,” said Dr. Mark DeLegge, Digestive Disorder Center.

The tower was needed because the cardiac and digestive services simply outgrew the space in the main hospital. The 275 million dollar building is the first of MUSC's 20 year expansion.

The hospital has 156 beds and nine operating rooms. The first scheduled operations will take place Tuesday at the Ashley River Tower in Downtown Charleston.

The new 641,000 square foot hospital is the largest building on the peninsula.