904 356-JOBS (5627)

904 356-JOBS (5627)

Year in Review: Freestanding ERs dominate North Florida healthcare construction (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Local healthcare systems got to work in 2024, expanding their presence across the First Coast region, often through the construction of freestanding emergency rooms. Millions of dollars are being poured into various projects, with plans expected to open new locations in the coming few years.

Memorial Healthcare Group, which operates HCA Florida Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, in February submitted plans to build a standalone emergency care facility in St. Johns County. HCA Florida in Jacksonville also had other plans to bring freestanding ERs to the area, primarily Yulee and Arlington.

Plans were submitted to the city in April for the Arlington location, a proposed $6.5 million permit for a single-story, 10,680-square-foot facility. Florida’s largest health system also broke ground in May on a 15,530-square-foot freestanding ER in Yulee that is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025.

But HCA Florida isn’t the only system that looked at Yulee this year — Baptist Health debuted a new emergency center in the area in November, the first addition to its plans to develop a larger medical campus and healthcare hub in Nassau County.

Each of these facilities are designed for a surrounding population seeing continued growth, especially as more and more people migrate to the Sunshine State. There are 63,500 people living within a 15-minute drive of the new Baptist center, for instance, a number the hospital system expects to grow by 11.4% by 2029.

Baptist is also undergoing $7.2 million in renovations for its medical center at 800 Prudential Drive, per two permits issued in April. With those in progress, the health system also submitted site plans to the city that month for a medical office campus in Seven Pines.

It also plans to open a Baptist/Wolfson Children’s Emergency Center, imaging services and primary care offices in the SilverLeaf community in western St. Johns County, according to a spokesperson for the healthcare provider in July. That project will be built on a 30-acre site off the intersection of Silverleaf Parkway and St. Johns Parkway, with space for two more buildings in the future.

Though local healthcare systems are making moves across and around Jacksonville, the city also attracted out-of-state companies in 2024. Nutex Health, a Texas-based company with over 20 facilities across several states, was given the go-ahead from the City of Jacksonville in August to build one of its first Florida locations.

The city issued a $21 million permit with construction already underway this year to construct a one-story, 28,303-square-foot specialty hospital at 12625 Beach Blvd. Referred to as a micro hospital, it will be a full-service emergency room and hospital on a smaller scale than large hospital systems, and provide year-round, 24/7 medical care.

This Jacksonville location is one of three new hospitals planned for Florida.