Orange City, FL - Florida Hospital Fish Memorial announced Friday that it will spend $100 million and add more than 180,000 square feet in order to expand the hospital's emergency department and build a new patient tower.
The first phase of the expansion of the hospital, located on Saxon Blvd. in Orange City, will add 50 more licensed beds to the facility, which currently has 175 licensed beds. Also, the ER will add another 19 beds to the 31 beds already in place, including the ones in the pediatric wing.
The expansion of the hospital will not only add to the size of the emergency department; it will also create a private bed model for all of the 175 inpatient beds and build a new four-story patient tower for enhanced cardiac, intensive care, surgical and other services.
Orlando-based RLF Architects is the designer of the project, which has been in the works for quite some time, according to David Ottati, CEO of Florida Hospital Central Florida Division's North Region. “West Volusia County has seen rapid growth, and Florida Hospital is committed to meeting our patients’ needs. We are dedicated to providing high quality healthcare close to home so that patients do not need to travel outside of our community for care. This expansion will help us meet the community’s needs now, as well as in the future, as West Volusia continues to grow,” Ottati explains.
The hospital's emergency department was built to accommodate 40,000 patients a year, but last year, it cared for more than 66,000, according to Rob Deininger, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial CEO. “More than 90 percent of our patients originate in the emergency department, and we’ve continuously experienced high volumes of patients needing emergency care,” says Deininger.
“This expansion is a substantial investment in our community, but it is exactly what our community needs- a world-class hospital delivering increased services to our communities. We are blessed to have the opportunity to bring this expansion project to the community and build on our historic commitment for the future,” Deininger added.
Construction of the expansion of the hospital is expected to begin in early 2018 and completed in 2020. Below is a rendering of the expansion project.
Both photos courtesy of Florida Hospital Fish Memorial.
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
