Crews delivered a 3-tesla MRI scanner to the University of South Carolina's new Brain Health Center in downtown Columbia on Monday, March 9, 2026, about a week before the school cut the ribbon to open the clinic. (Photo courtesy of USC)
COLUMBIA — South Carolinians got their first glimpse Wednesday inside the University of South Carolina’s new $30 million brain health clinic.
The center has yet to set an official start date for seeing patients. But when it does, neurologists and radiologists at the center will be equipped to diagnose and treat the most complicated cases of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.
“The Brain Health Center underscores our commitment to delivering world-class cognitive care for all South Carolinians through leading-edge technology, excellent clinicians and expanded research opportunities right here in our home state,” said USC President Michael Amiridis.
The center, located in a renovated 65,000-square-foot building in downtown Columbia, is the main hub in a network of seven clinics across the state focused on increasing access to brain-related disease research and cutting-edge treatments.
Crews delivered the first of two MRI scanners, needed to make the tough diagnoses, to the center last week. The second scanner, which will be the most powerful in the state, is being shipped from Germany and will arrive in the weeks to come.
The center also has eight stations where those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s will have the option to undergo treatment with medicine meant to slow the disease’s progression.
Alzheimer’s makes up less than half of all dementia cases in South Carolina, but those who are diagnosed early with the disease could greatly benefit from the state-of-the-art drugs, which received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval just last year.
Julius Fridriksson, USC’s vice president for research, said the school is in talks with several drug companies about taking part in clinical trials.
And on the center’s second floor is a physical and occupational therapy studio, one set up with physical exercise equipment and a second laid out like a small apartment — complete with a bed, table and appliances — where patients can redevelop the fine motor skills they need to live on their own.
Even artwork on the walls is an homage to Santiago Ramón y Cajal, considered to be the father of modern neuroscience.
USC runs the the clinic network with $5 million in state taxpayer dollars annually.
The House set aside an additional $1.5 annually in the first draft of the state’s proposed spending package to add more rural clinics. And $15 million in federal money, which the school said GOP U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham helped secure, went toward the purchase of the MRI machines.
Since starting its clinic network in August 2023, USC and its partner health care providers have seen more than 2,000 patients.
That includes the mother of Laura Haynes.
Haynes, who spoke at the ribbon cutting, said her mother spent her life working as court-appointed legal guardian for children in the state’s family court system, standing in the gap for those facing abuse and neglect.
When her mother began showing signs of dementia, Haynes said it was up to her family to now take care of her, the same way she stood up for those children in need.
The “obstacles fell away,” Haynes said, when her mother was able to receive treatment in the network’s Winnsboro clinic, close to her home.
Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
