Palm Coast, FL - Florida Hospital reaches a deal with Flagler County to build a new emergency room facility on the northern side of Palm Coast.
The $25 million project will also include a new building to house medical offices and outpatient rehabilitation services, according to hospital officials.
Wally De Aquino, the Chief Operating Officer for Florida Hospital Flagler, says the agreement was reached when Florida Hospital agreed to buy six acres of land near Matanzas High School for $175,000 during Monday night's (November 19th) Flagler County Commission meeting.
"This specific location was carefully chosen to give Flagler County’s northern residents another access point to high-quality healthcare," De Aquino added.
The land itself borders the north side of Matanzas Woods Parkway just east of Interstate 95. It’s right next to the Exit 293 interchange.
The 12-bed ER will be equipped with the same services found in traditional hospital-based ER's, including imaging and laboratory services. It will be able to handle adults and children, per De Aquino.
“Right now, these patients have to drive about 10 miles south on I-95 to reach our emergency department,” De Aquino noted. "With this new facility, the residents of northern Flagler County will have a freestanding emergency department and a variety of physicians right in their backyard, ready to care for them close to home."
The two-story medical office building will also be built near the ER, which will be used by primary care doctors and specialists, said Florida Hospital Flagler Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ron Jimenez.
“Not only will this project bring new, easier-to-access points of care to Flagler County, but it is also expected to bring jobs and economic growth to the area,” Jimenez stated. “We will use as many local vendors as we can for this construction project.”
Florida Hospital - which is changing its name to AdventHealth next year - will be looking to fill around 40 full-time positions at the new facility once it’s operational.
HuntonBrady - an Orlando architectural firm - is overseeing the project, which should take around 10 months to build once the sale is closed and all necessary permits are signed off. The timeline for that to happen isn’t clear at this point.
