BAPTIST HEALTH TO BUILD $23 MILLION EMERGENCY CENTER IN OAKLEAF
Posted by carlos renteria on
Baptist Health Properties Inc. is expanding into Southwest Jacksonville with a free-standing 20-bed emergency center scheduled to open in early 2020.
Jacksonville-based Baptist Health said Monday the $23 million facility will offer adult and pediatric emergency care at the Oakleaf Town Center at Argyle Forest Boulevard and Merchants Way next to the First Coast Expressway.
The center also will serve Northern Clay County and is designed to meet the needs of the growing population between Interstate 10 and Florida 16.
It will include a LifeFlight helipad.
The center will feature a dedicated Wolfson Children’s Emergency Center on one side designed for patients up to age 17. All Wolfson Children’s Emergency Centers are connected to the only full-service children’s hospital in the region and the only state-designated Pediatric Trauma Center in Northeast Florida, Baptist Health said.
Baptist applied to the city Monday for a permit to build the center at a 9868 Family Place at a basic construction cost of $10 million.
No contractor is listed. Gresham Smith is the architect and England-Thims & Miller Inc. is the civil engineer.
The St. Johns River Water Management District also is reviewing a permit application for the project, shown in those plans as a 19,000-square-foot building with an expansion of 7,000 square feet on almost 8.6 acres.
“Emergencies can happen at any age, at any time, and we have a responsibility to ensure this growing region has convenient access to our specialized care,” said Darin Roark, vice president of ambulatory campuses and system emergency departments at Baptist Health.
The Baptist/Wolfson Children's Emergency Center at Oakleaf will be the health system’s ninth emergency center in Northeast Florida, Baptist Health said.
Baptist Health said the 19,000-square-foot facility will offer the same 24/7 level of care found in a hospital-based emergency department, with diagnostic services for adult and pediatric emergency patients including a full-service laboratory, CT scanner, ultrasound, X-ray and emergency medical transport with an on-site ambulance and LifeFlight helipad.
Baptist Health Properties Inc. paid almost $6.1 million for the property Feb. 6, buying it from AFI Associates Inc. The emergency center is the first phase of a medical campus on the 8.6-acre site. Baptist will add a medical office building.
“We’re building with room to grow,” said Keith Tickell, vice president of strategic assets/real estate at Baptist Health.
Baptist Health said the Wolfson ER patients will be served by board-certified pediatric emergency physicians with Emergency Resource Group, pediatric nurses, respiratory therapists and radiologic technologists.
Pediatric pharmacists will be available to consult with the physicians on medication management and dosage. Pediatric radiologists will interpret all pediatric X-ray images.
By: Karen Brune Mathis
From: Jaxdailyrecord