Sarasota Memorial Hospital staff, volunteers, physicians, community leaders, and residents gathered on April 4 on Laurel Road in Venice, FL, to celebrate the groundbreaking of a four-story, 350,000-square-foot hospital that will be the centerpiece of a new SMH medical campus. The Laurel Road campus is scheduled to open in Fall 2021.
Called "the most significant addition in the health system's 94-year history," the Laurel Road hospital will initially open with 110 private rooms (90 acute-care beds and 20 beds for observation patients), a 28-treatment-room emergency care center and eight surgical suites designed to accommodate robotic surgical equipment. The obstetrics unit features ten family-friendly, private LDRP suites, as well as two C-section operating room suites. Designed to be flexible, the campus has the capacity to expand to 270 patient rooms, 16 ORs, and a 50-bed emergency department to accommodate future growth.
The top floors include a 22-bed intensive care unit (ICU) designed with line of sight into each room from the central nursing station and extensive, high-performing acoustical materials to reduce noise levels; a 26-bed acute care unit, providing inpatient services for medical and surgical patients; 32 additional medical and surgical beds; and a 20-bed observation unit that has the same room design as the acute care unit. Spacious private rooms accommodate larger beds and specialized patient care equipment, while allowing ample circulation space for patients, visitors, and staff.
SMH views the Venice hospital as an opportunity to ease capacity challenges at the existing main campus in Sarasota, which has seen unprecedented growth in patient volume in recent years. The new campus will also greatly improve south Sarasota County residents' access to advanced emergency and medical services closer to their homes.
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Business ObserverSarasota Memorial Health Care System Sarasota Memorial Hospital - Venice
April 22, 2019