Scope of Practice Expansions in Florida

The Healthcare Industry in Northeast Florida is Booming

The healthcare industry in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida is vibrant and growing, and it’s clear why. The number of expansions and accomplishments made by our local hospitals boost the area’s economy and provide opportunities for those seeking careers in the medical eld. By making these investments in the community’s healthcare, they are driving the industry forward.

Ascension St. Vincent’s Projects

Ascension St. Vincent’s is planning to build a new hospital in north St. Johns County along I-95, though the project is still in the preliminary phase. The health system is also embarking on a $22.6 million renovation to the exterior of its Southside hospital. Additionally, Ascension St. Vincent’s is opening two new standalone emergency rooms in Jacksonville. One will be on the Westside of Jacksonville and the other will be adjacent to the Ascension St. Vincent’s Health Center in city’s Arlington neighborhood. Both emergency rooms will span approximately 13,000 square feet and are scheduled to open sometime in 2020. Ascension St. Vincent’s specifically chose those locations for the two emergency centers based on a data-driven analysis of where the services were most needed in the Jacksonville community. With all these upcoming and ongoing projects, Ascension has invested more than $300 million in Northeast Florida.

Mayo Clinic, photo courtesy of City of Jacksonville

Baptist Health in Clay County

In order to meet the healthcare needs for the ever expanding Clay County region, Baptist Health is planning to build a fullservice 300,000-square-foot hospital on its existing Baptist Clay Medical Campus in early 2022. The 100-bed hospital will include women’s services and enhanced cardiology services. These services will be in addition to the ones already offered at the Baptist Clay Campus in Fleming Island. This $200 million investment will create 700 new jobs in the county. The new hospital will also feature large private patient rooms and many onsite amenities such as a Starbucks, an outdoor dining area, and a large community room. “Clay County residents tell us they need more hospital-based healthcare services close to where they live and work,” Darin Roark, BSN, MBA, RN, FACHE, current vice president of Ambulatory Campuses and Emergency Services said in a press release. “Having a full-service hospital nearby will eliminate the need for travel, while providing the medical expertise that Baptist Health is known for.”

Brooks Rehabilitation to Open Additional Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital

To meet the demands of the everexpanding Jacksonville population, Brooks Rehabilitation will open an additional, state-of-the-art inpatient rehabilitation hospital. The new 60-bed rehab hospital will be built on the Bartram Park campus. The hospital will also care for patients who have had a stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury or any other incapacitating illness or injury. Hospital construction is expected be complete in two years. Brooks plans to hire 150 new employees once the hospital is fully operational.

Flagler Health+ Durbin Park

Flagler Health+ has purchased 40 acres within the Durbin Park development to build a health and wellness campus. Located between I-95 and State Road 9B, the project will be built in three phases. Phase one will focus on the Flagler Health+ Village, a concept that offers family practice, women’s care, pediatrics, urgent care, imaging and laboratory services. The health village will also include a space for healthy lifestyle programs, events and activities. Flagler Health+ already has a health village in the MuraBella neighborhood in St. Augustine and is planning to open two more in Nocatee and Palm Coast. In the next phases, the project will include a hospital, outpatient surgical services, cancer care and more.

Mayo Clinic Expansions

Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville is seeing several expansions to its campus, including a new $233 million integrated oncology facility with proton beam therapy. This will be Jacksonville’s third proton therapy facility. The facility is expected to be open for patients by 2023 and will span 140,000 square feet. Additionally, the new facility will incorporate groundbreaking cancer treatment technology to deliver radiotherapy to patients. Mayo is also planning to build a carbon ion treatment facility as part of the oncology facility. The oncology facility will be located near Mayo’s Mangurian Building, which is home to the Oncology Infusion Center as well as hematology and oncology care. Having these facilities so close together will be beneficial for Mayo’s cancer patients. Next year, Mayo North plans to finish a fivestory building that will have room for eight operating rooms and procedural space for specialties like hepatology, gastroenterology and cardiology. In 2019, the Mayo South building opened, and offers cardiovascular care, rehabilitation services and molecular imaging. The Discovery and Innovation Building also opened in 2019 and is home to the Life Sciences Incubator. To adjust to these expansions, Mayo is building a 1,000-space parking garage.

Memorial Hospital CVICU

Memorial Hospital opened a new Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) on the third floor of its south tower. The CVICU is the first unit to offer critical care and advanced cardiovascular care for Memorial patients. With 18 patient rooms, six critical care beds and an additional 12 progressive care beds, Memorial will be able to offer even better care for its cardiovascular surgery patients with the new unit. “We are pleased to be able to offer this CVICU unit to care for our cardiovascular surgical patients,” said John Lazenby, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Memorial Hospital in a press release. “This beautiful new unit will be an excellent place for these patients to receive the best in specialized cardiovascular care.” The hospital plans to hire 45 staff members to run the CVICU.

Orange Park Medical Center Expansions

Orange Park Medical Center is currently undergoing a $126 million expansion that will offer more space for medical practices and expand the number of physicians training at the facility. The vast expansion includes a $62 million new patient tower, 14 recovery rooms and two electrophysiology labs serving patients who have irregular heart rhythm disorders. The hospital also recently expanded its NICU and has begun expanding its kitchen and dining area. The new patient tower will include 48 patient beds for medical and surgical patients and will add four floors above the hospital’s emergency department. As part of the expansion, more than 100 new jobs will be created to care for the increased number of patients.

UF Health - Wildlight

In December 2019, UF Health opened a new medical office building that will provide comprehensive healthcare services and cutting-edge medical technology to the master-planned Wildlight community in Nassau County. UF Health - Wildlight includes an urgent care center staffed by emergency medicine doctors, as well as family medicine, imaging, lab services, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and, adult and pediatric dentistry. The office and medical space will focus on prevention and early diagnosis for patients by using a patient-centered model. There will also be a new healthy living center inside the Wildlight community that will include UF Health Rehabilitation - Wildlight and a YMCA facility. These are expected to open in early fall 2020. UF Health Rehabilitation - Wildlight will include 5,000 square feet of rehabilitative space for individualized adult and pediatric rehabilitation care.