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Hodges visits with students, patients at MUSC The MUSC mission “to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina” was displayed for S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges during his tour of the campus Feb. 4. But it was the presentation of university and medical center goals, concerns and accomplishments during a tightly packed hour and 15 minutes in the president's board room that likely fixed this academic medical center's reach for excellence in his mind.   From left: College of Pharmacy student Diandra Jeffries is one of a number of students who lunched with Gov. Hodges and took the opportunity to give him an overview of student life at MUSC. Children's Hospital patient Ranika Crawford, 11, shows Gov. Hodges her craft project during the governor's visit to the Atrium. Right photo: Hodges greets patient James E. Dooley, 57, who has been receiving renal dialysis for more than 20 years until his kidney transplant Oct. 23 Hodges expressed his admiration for the hard work that has increased female and minority enrollment in MUSC colleges and the gains that have been made in faculty diversity. He heard about the medical center's struggle to maintain a high level of care in the face of increasing medical costs and decreasing reimbursements for care to underserved patients.   “Teaching hospitals heavily dependent on disproportionate share have been hit particularly hard by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997,” said MUSC Medical Center CEO Stuart Smith.    He also received updates on the progress toward creating a hospital authority, research development and its impact on the state's economy, and MUSC's relationship with the University of South Carolina.