Senior Care in Kershaw County: Camden, Elgin and Lugoff

A county with its own center of gravity

Camden is the oldest inland city in South Carolina, and Kershaw County, with about 73,166 residents in 2025 Census estimates, has its own hospital in MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center and its own cluster of licensed senior care. Families in Camden rarely need to look toward Columbia unless children live there.

Elgin and Lugoff, along U.S. 1 and Interstate 20 in the western part of the county, are a different story. They are closer to Northeast Columbia than to downtown Camden, and many families there compare options in both directions.

What DPH licenses in Kershaw County

Every licensed assisted living facility, nursing home, adult day center, home health agency and hospice office in the county:

Source: S.C. DPH Find a Facility license data as of November 6, 2026. Two small Camden residences run by a disability-services provider hold CRCF licenses but are not senior placements.

Different aging region, different phone numbers

Kershaw County belongs to the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments aging region based in Sumter ((803) 775-7381), along with Clarendon, Lee and Sumter counties. That office, not Central Midlands, handles in-home services assessments, family caregiver support and the regional long-term care ombudsman for Kershaw residents.

SCDHHS lists no PACE organization for Kershaw County, so the Community Choices waiver is the main route to Medicaid-funded help at home. Referrals go to SCDHHS Community Long Term Care at (888) 971-1637.

Elgin and Lugoff options

Elgin mailing addresses straddle the county line. The area's larger assisted living community with a secured Alzheimer's unit, near Woodcreek Farms, is on the Richland County side, while a small residential home and Midlands Regional Rehabilitation Hospital carry Kershaw County Elgin addresses. Lugoff hosts hospice and in-home care offices that serve the I-20 corridor. For nursing home care, Elgin and Lugoff families usually compare Camden with Northeast Columbia's Clemson Road and Two Notch Road homes, about the same distance away.

Ask any agency based in Columbia whether its license covers Kershaw County; home health and hospice licenses list the counties an agency may serve.

A short checklist for Kershaw families

Start with the distance from the person who will visit most. Check each facility's DPH record and, for nursing homes, its CMS ratings and staffing. Ask whether the community accepts Optional State Supplementation or Community Choices if money may run short.

Call Santee-Lynches early for help at home, and keep MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center's discharge planners in mind: they know which local facilities have beds.

Camden's options at a glance

Within Camden itself, families can compare a newer assisted living community with a secured Alzheimer's unit, two mid-sized residential care facilities, the hospital-affiliated Karesh long-term care and rehab center and a second nursing home, plus the county's adult day center. That is enough variety to keep most parents in town, near church, friends and the doctors they already see at MUSC Health Kershaw.

The nursing homes' CMS records are on their facility pages, with staffing and inspection results compared against the Midlands median. For assisted living, the DPH license record and any enforcement order are the public starting point, and the most recent inspection report is available on written request.

When to look toward Columbia

Look west when a parent needs a specialty the county does not have, when children live in Northeast Columbia or Lexington and will visit most, or when no Camden bed is available in time for a hospital discharge. The drive from Camden to Northeast Columbia along Interstate 20 is usually under 40 minutes outside rush hour.