Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Florida Hospitals in 'Expansion Mode'

Regional Health Care News

Jacksonville

» In July, Mayo Clinic opened a 40,000-sq.-ft. primary care center in the Hampton Village area. The $16.7-million center is the first new freestanding primary care center that Mayo has built in 16 years. Mayo is also in the process of adding two patient floors to its existing hospital and is slated to open a dialysis center on its Jacksonville campus this month.

» In October, St. Vincent’s HealthCare opened St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Clay County. The $110-million facility — Clay County’s first new hospital in 40 years — has 64 beds but is designed to expand to 250 to accommodate future population growth.

» Baptist Health opened the Baptist/Wolfson Children’s Emergency Center, a full-service, hospital emergency room for children and adults, in Fleming Island in May. A comprehensive new center for outpatient, specialty pediatric care and rehabilitation services, the Wolfson Children’s Specialty Center, opened in September at the Baptist Clay Medical Campus. The Wolfson Children’s Specialty Center is a collaboration between Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Nemours Children’s Clinic and the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville.

Lee County

» Lee Memorial Health System is in the process of appealing the state’s preliminary denial of its proposal to build an 80-bed satellite hospital in south Lee County to serve Bonita Springs/Estero. Competitor NCH Healthcare, which operates North Naples Hospital on Immokalee Road about 12 miles from the land on Coconut Road where Lee Memorial would like to build its facility, says another hospital is not needed and is opposing the plan. The Lee Memorial Health System Foundation, meanwhile, is raising funds to build a 128-bed, state-of-the-art pediatric medical facility for the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. The $250-million facility will be located on the campus of HealthPark Medical Center in Fort Myers, where the current Golisano Children’s Hospital is.

Orlando

» Construction is moving ahead on the VA Medical Center in Lake Nona, and the facility is on track to open next summer. The hospital will be open to patients within 90 days of completion. In the meantime, the VA is moving ahead with opening and occupying adjacent facilities, including the 120-bed Community Living Center, set to open this month, and the 60-bed Domiciliary and Rehabilitation Treatment Program, which is set to open in the spring.

» Poinciana Medical Center, a new HCA hospital in Kissimmee that opened last July, is planning to expand its emergency department by 3,500 square feet. The expansion will add eight beds, for a total of 20 beds and 14,500 square feet and is slated to begin in mid-2014.

» Florida Hospital is also in the process of building Florida Hospital for Women, which will open in 2015 on Florida Hospital Orlando’s main campus. The facility will include maternal fetal medicine (high-risk obstetrics), gynecology, neonatal intensive care, a lactation center, a high risk breast center, cardiology and other services. In October, Florida Hospital opened two women’s health centers — the $19-million Celebration Health Women’s Institute at Florida Hospital Celebration Health and the $7-million Winter Park Women’s Pavilion at Winter Park Memorial Hospital. Florida Hospital is also building a ninth campus in Winter Garden, which will feature a stand-alone emergency department, an outpatient imaging center and a multispecialty clinic.

Miami

» Baptist Hospital of Miami is expanding the Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute and Baptist Hospital’s Surgery Center. The $90-million, three-story construction project will include new operating rooms for neuroscience, cardiac and robotic surgery. Space for new programs, which will include a National Center for Aneurysm Therapy, Center for Advanced Endovascular Therapies and Center for Structural Heart Therapy, will also be included. The new facility is scheduled to open in 2016.

Martin/St. Lucie Counties

» St. Lucie Medical Center is expanding its emergency department. The $9.3-million expansion, which should be complete by the spring, will triple the size of the ER to 15,000 square feet and will add 11 beds for a total of 35.

» Tradition Medical Center, Martin Health System’s newest hospital, is slated to open this month. The $110-million, 90-bed facility is located in Stuart and will provide emergency care, labor and delivery, a full range of outpatient diagnostic testing and treatment and inpatient and outpatient surgery. In June, Martin Health System in partnership with HealthSouth opened a 34-bed comprehensive medical rehab hospital to serve patients recovering from strokes, traumatic brain injuries and orthopedic surgeries. The 48,000-sq.-ft. facility is the first inpatient physical rehabilitation hospital in Martin or St. Lucie counties.

Hillsborough County

» BayCare Health System is building a 352,000-sq.-ft. hospital in Riverview to serve the growing South Shore area. The $225-million facility, St. Joseph’s Hospital-South, will have 90 private patient suites and 22 observation rooms and is scheduled to be completed in 2015.

Tallahassee

» A $15-million expansion project at Capital Regional Medical Center has added two floors with 44 private beds.

Panama City

» Gulf Coast Medical Center in Panama City recently unveiled a $33-million, three-story addition. The renovation allowed for 42 new critical care beds, a new pediatric intensive care unit, more ICU beds and a larger neonatal intensive care unit.