First Coast Businesses Are Booming

Healthcare on the First Coast is Thriving!

The Jacksonville area is experiencing a growth in economic and job opportunities that is unprecedented. Over the last year, Jacksonville’s job market has experienced an increase of 2.8 percent, with job growth expected to reach an increase of 44.4 percent in the next 10 years. These circumstances have set the stage for the healthcare industry to expand and thrive in a multitude of ways. As there is an increase in homeowners and residents within the area, the need for healthcare expansion to cater to a larger community is necessary. Currently, there are a variety of developmental projects underway. This includes new hospitals, clinics and rehabilitation sites, along with healthcare industry collaborations, expanding facilities and new available treatment plans.

Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Johns County

St. Johns County is one of the fastestgrowing populations in the region. With a larger community comes a larger need for healthcare services. Ascension St. Vincent’s has broken ground on its fourth Northeast Florida hospital in St. Johns County. With an expected opening date in 2022, this will be one of two acute care hospitals in the area. At an estimated cost of $115 million, the hospital will be built on a 150,000-squarefoot expanse and will house up to 56 beds. Services will include emergency services, hospitalization, cardiovascular care, orthopaedics and musculoskeletal care, general surgical services, laboratory and imaging services. The new hospital will also include an intensive care unit that will hold a total of eight beds.

Baptist HealthPlace at Fleming Island

Baptist Health has expanded its healthcare services in Clay County. Last year Baptist Health purchased an 11-acre VyStar Credit Union property and built a new Baptist HealthPlace location on Fleming Island, adjacent to its current Baptist Clay Medical Campus. “With VyStar’s 11 additional acres, our new hospital encompasses more than 40 acres, giving us room to expand to meet the health needs of the growing Clay County community,” Baptist Clay hospital president, Darin Roark, stated. The new 86,000-square-foot facility opened in Fall 2021.

Brooks Rehabilitation Bartram Campus

Brooks Rehabilitation has set out to provide an outreach of inpatient rehabilitation services within the Jacksonville region. The construction of a new hospital in the Bartram Park area within the preexisting 115-acre campus aims to meet increasing demands of the surrounding community. The Bartram facility’s new addition will offer care that includes post brain and spinal cord injury, stroke and any other impairing injury. Brooks Rehabilitation has an expansive reach over the Jacksonville area, often partnering with other hospitals and providing rehabilitation services to more than 3,000 patients at Brooks on University Boulevard annually. The new hospital will continue the growth of Brooks’ expansive inpatient rehabilitation services that feature cutting edge technology, a variety of clinical experts and effective treatment plans. Once constructed, the new hospital is expected to open in 2022, with an estimated 150 staff to be employed.

Encompass Health

To provide the First Coast community with comprehensive physical rehabilitative services, Encompass Health plans to build a state-of-theart 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital on Jacksonville’s southside. The hospital will provide speech, occupational and physical therapy

Photo by Stephanie Marty

services and provide 24-hour care by registered nurses. It will also care for patients recovering from illnesses and injuries including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopaedic conditions. The Jacksonville location plans to begin seeing patients in the second half of 2022.

Flagler Health+ and UF Health Collaboration

A new age of healthcare is being ushered in by recent collaborations between industries and enterprises. Flagler Health+ sets its intentions on working with UF Health to bring forth a fresh concept of health and wellness to Durbin Park in St. Johns County. UF Health is widely known for its health colleges, research and institutions. As such, Flagler Health+ sets its sites on expanding with UF Health with the commitment of providing advanced health services to the Northeast Florida community.

In an informal agreement of collaboration, both parties display interest in building clinics, starting new residency programs, and offering new educational prospects for residents and those seeking fellowships. Flagler Health+ has already taken initiative by purchasing 40 acres of Durbin Park Development from GATE Lands. Plans of a health campus, ambulatory medical services and other medical facilities are being discussed.

Orange Park Medical Center

In March 2021, Orange Park Medical Center completed a 101,435-squarefoot expansion which added a fivestory patient tower, outpatient testing, a dining room, kitchen, medical office building, electrophysiology lab and neonatal intensive care unit. Now, Orange Park Medical Center will become the fifth-largest hospital in Northeast Florida in 2023 when its 34-million-dollar expansion is complete. Bringing the bed count to 408, the hospital continues to provide the highest level of care for its patients. The addition will add 20 intensive care unit beds and 48 private patient rooms as well as a 300-space parking lot. Each patient room is being upgraded with state-of-the-art clinical communication technology, including high-speed internet access and 50-inch TVs equipped with Apple TV. This expansion will also provide the community with an additional 80 jobs in the hospital.

Medical Tourism

With many high-profile healthcare facilities on the First Coast, it is easy to see why many people from around the nation and world travel to the area for medical care. There is a multitude of medical services from transplants, dialysis, pediatrics, bariatric surgery to cancer treatment, cardiac health and advanced rehabilitation services.

As home to Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic, UF Health Proton Therapy Institute and Wolfson Children’s Hospital, the area offers many top healthcare options.

Many research and residency collaborations with the University of Florida, University of North Florida, Jacksonville University and Florida State College at Jacksonville also contribute to the medical success of the area.

The First Coast is home to one of three Mayo Clinics and one of six MD Anderson Cancer Center partnerships. “

Orange Park Medical Center Expansion, photo courtesy of Clay County