COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) -- Facing a $50 million deficit, Tidelands Health is closing in on a deal with the Medical University of South Carolina to help with its financial turnaround.

MUSC Health CEO Patrick Cawley told state lawmakers last week that both sides have been in talks for months on a plan that would give his system at least a 51% controlling stake in Tidelands, which provides services to Georgetown, Horry and Williamsburg counties.

"They're not without cash reserves at the moment and from our review, they would have somewhere around two years (of saved operating expenses), and so that's how we're currently looking at it," Cawley told the Joint Bond Review Committee. "We've picked up many distressed hospitals in the past and turned them all around."

Tidelands Health runs 91 faci

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