Socastee's New ER Was Supposed to Open This Month. Here's What Is Actually Opening Nearby This Winter.

CMC Health Plaza South sits at 6010 Highway 707. It's a three-story, 36,000-square-foot building that already holds primary and pediatric care, a list of specialty practices and an ambulatory surgery center. CMC broke ground on Oct. 29, 2025, for a 12,150-square-foot addition on the same site. That addition will house the emergency department Conway Medical Center first targeted for October 2026.

October is almost over, and the ER isn't open. CMC's own location page now reads "COMING JANUARY 2027."

The first changes Socastee residents will actually see this winter are new names on clinic doors that are already open. CMC bought four Novant Health urgent cares and one physical therapy clinic in Horry County, and they switch over on a rolling schedule through mid-November. The two big additions on the south end are the Socastee ER and Grand Strand Health's new South Strand Hospital on the Highway 17 Bypass. Both are now 2027 stories, and they come from two different health systems building near each other.

The November Calendar, in Order

Here's the order of changes from this week through Thanksgiving, according to CMC's October 13 announcement and Horry County's road notice:

1. Oct. 22: CMC Physical Therapy–21st Ave reopened under CMC at 2050 Corporate Centre Drive, Suite 100, Myrtle Beach. Posted hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 to 11 a.m. on Friday.
2. Nov. 1: McCormick Road closes at the Socastee Creek bridge, between Triple Crown Court and Dewey Road.
3. Nov. 2: CMC Urgent Care–Carolina Forest opens at 200 Middleburg Drive, and CMC Urgent Care–Little River opens at 2246 Highway 17.
4. Nov. 9: CMC Urgent Care–21st Ave opens at 1221 21st Avenue North in Myrtle Beach.
5. Nov. 16: CMC Urgent Care–Surfside Beach opens at 1600 Highway 17 North.

All four urgent cares list the same hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. CMC says its urgent cares take walk-ins seven days a week for colds, flu, infections, minor wounds and fractures, fevers, UTIs and rashes. They also do physicals and vaccinations.

None of these are new buildings. Each one is an existing clinic changing hands, and the acquisition brings 43 employees over to CMC. If the Surfside Beach clinic on Highway 17 North is the one you already use, the address stays the same. The name over the door is what changes on Nov. 16.

Why an Urgent Care Deal Is Really About the ER

CMC presented the purchase as part of its emergency plan. Here's how CEO Brian Argo put it in the release:

"Urgent care is a natural fit alongside the emergency care we provide in Conway and the two freestanding emergency departments we're building."

Chief medical officer Dr. Paul Richardson explained the split this way: urgent care handles "acute, non life threatening conditions," and the emergency departments "stay focused on serious and life threatening ones." Robert Johnston, CMC's chief ambulatory officer, told WMBF that the added urgent cares should also mean shorter waits at the emergency room.

So the urgent cares open first, and the emergency department they're meant to support follows them. For Socastee, that ER is the one on Highway 707.

What the Socastee ER Will and Won't Be

CMC's plans describe a smaller facility than the word "ER" might suggest:

• Eight beds, designed to handle more than 10,000 patient visits a year
• Open 24/7
• Shared imaging with the rest of the plaza, including CT, X-ray, ultrasound and MRI
• Freestanding, which means it's built into Health Plaza South but separate from a hospital campus. CMC's FAQ says it can stabilize patients and transfer them when needed
• No inpatient beds. WMBF reported that patients who need an overnight stay would go to CMC's main hospital in Conway

CMC broke ground on Oct. 29, 2025, and put the project cost at $20.5 million. MyHorryNews reported that recruiting for 12 emergency physician positions had already started.

How the Opening Date Has Moved

Each time CMC or local coverage has mentioned an opening date, it has been a little later than the last one:

CMC's Socastee ER FAQ still says the system is "aiming for an October 2026 opening," depending on permitting and construction. The newer location page also still includes a line saying construction is "set to begin soon," which was written before the 2025 groundbreaking. January 2027 is CMC's most recent published projection. CMC hasn't announced a specific opening day or a ribbon cutting.

The Other 2027 Project on the South End

Grand Strand Health broke ground on South Strand Hospital on Feb. 9, 2026. WMBF reported the price at $220 million, while Grand Strand Health's May 2025 expansion announcement listed $226 million. The hospital is going up on the Highway 17 Bypass near Sheffield Parkway, next to the existing South Strand Medical Center. MyHorryNews gives the project address as 5100 Highway 17 Bypass.

Crews raised the final structural beam on July 23, 2026. WPDE reported that the two-story, 59-bed hospital is expected to open to patients in 2027, and that it means people on the south end won't have to travel to Grand Strand Medical Center in Myrtle Beach. Grand Strand Health COO Lauren Davis described the plan to WPDE:

"We will have four operating rooms within this hospital, two catheter labs, two endo suites, comprehensive imaging, CT, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound."

CMC's Highway 707 project is an eight-bed emergency department. Grand Strand Health's Bypass project is a full hospital with inpatient beds, surgery and its own ER. WMBF reported that the hospital project had been in the works for about seven years.

What's Open Right Now

While both projects are under construction, these 24-hour emergency options are already running in southern and central Horry County:

• South Strand Medical Center, 5050 Hwy 17 Bypass S, lists a 24/7 ER.
• Grand Strand Health's Carolina Forest ER, 2101 Oakheart Drive, is open 24 hours.
• Grand Strand Health's Murrells Inlet ER, 4716 Hwy 17 Bypass, is listed as open 24 hours.
• Tidelands Health's emergency department at Waccamaw Community Hospital, 4070 Highway 17 South in Murrells Inlet, is open 24/7 and designated an adult Level IV trauma center.

Grand Strand Health's newest site, Rivertown ER at 1720 Church Street in Conway, opened Oct. 15, 2026, according to MyHorryNews. It has 10 exam rooms, X-ray, CT and an on-site lab.

Getting Around Starting Nov. 1

One more change affects Socastee and Forestbrook drivers, whether they're headed to Highway 707 or anywhere else. Starting Nov. 1, Horry County will close McCormick Road at the Socastee Creek bridge so crews can install a relief culvert. Detours will run along Forestbrook Road, Burcale Road and Fantasy Harbour Boulevard.

According to the county's notice, the closure should last through December, and the full project should wrap up in early 2027. It's funded through a partnership with the South Carolina Office of Resilience to increase drainage capacity in the Forestbrook and Socastee communities. That puts the bridge reopening, the Socastee ER's projected opening and the end of the culvert work all around the turn of the year.

For more on day-to-day life around here, see our Socastee neighborhood guide and our recent look at what's worth a stop around the Socastee Swing Bridge.

At Coastal Beach Homes, Jan and Dan keep up with changes like these across southern Horry County, from a new name on the Surfside Beach urgent care to the 2027 projects on Highway 707 and the Bypass. If you're thinking about a move and want to know how far a home is from the clinics and ERs on this list, we're happy to map it out with you. Start Your Coastal Home Search.