USC Brain Health Network Launches New Clinic in Orangeburg
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WIS) – The University of South Carolina’s (USC) Brain Health Network is taking a significant step forward in addressing the challenges of healthcare deserts across the Midlands by launching a new clinic in Orangeburg. This initiative aims to provide faster access to cognitive health care for patients who have long faced lengthy wait times for evaluations and treatment.
The new brain health clinic is a collaboration between USC and Hope Health, located within Hope Health’s Orangeburg facility. This partnership is designed to significantly reduce the time it takes for patients to receive specialist evaluations, from several months to just four to five weeks.
Dr. Leonardo Bonilha, a key figure in this effort, highlighted the previous challenges patients faced. “The evaluation with a specialist would take several months, not uncommonly nine months, sometimes a year, a year and a half,” he explained. “What we did was stitch things together so that somebody could be evaluated faster. They are contacted sooner, and the process shortens that long, many-month time span to four to five weeks.”
Orangeburg has one of the highest rates of Alzheimer’s disease in the nation, ranking eighth. The new clinic marks the seventh such facility in the Midlands and brings community health workers and brain health specialists closer to residents, offering much-needed support to families dealing with cognitive health issues.
Carl Humphries of Hope Health emphasized the impact of this initiative on the local community. “I don’t know if there’s a family in Orangeburg that hasn’t experienced dementia or Alzheimer’s in their families,” he said. “We all know what that’s like to deal with, and the exciting part about this project is that we can take our experts at USC and then our own experts at Hope Health and delivering the best healthcare to this community.”
Currently in the pilot phase, the clinic is focusing on patients of Hope Health. Officials plan to expand its services to the broader Orangeburg community by early 2026. This expansion is expected to bring even more relief to families who have struggled with the long wait times and limited access to specialized care.
Mara Sholette, who witnessed her grandfather’s battle with dementia, sees the new clinic as a beacon of hope for others facing similar challenges. She shared her personal experience, saying her family waited months for answers and help before her grandfather passed away within a year of his diagnosis.
“He wasn’t able to get adequate help for his dementia,” she said. “I think if this clinic had been available to him and he was in Orangeburg, we might have had him a little while longer.”
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