PENSACOLA, Fla. – Brasfield & Gorrie and Baptist Health Care celebrated the topping out of the new Baptist Health Care campus currently under construction at I-110 and Brent Lane Feb. 24.

The topping out of a new construction project is a major milestone in the building process that occurs when the structure reaches its full height and the last piece of structure, often a steel beam, is put in place. It signifies the completion of the framework of the building.

Baptist Health Care leaders and other special guests joined Brasfield & Gorrie leaders and nearly 1,000 construction crew members on site for a brief program that recognized the significance of the day and celebrated the accomplishment. Following the program, guests watched as the last steel beam was lifted by crane to the top of the new acute care hospital and set into place. The beam was signed by team members, volunteers, visitors, construction workers and others.

The new $636 million Baptist Health Care campus represents the largest investment in a health care facility in Northwest Florida history. This new 57-acre centrally located campus is designed to be a calm, peaceful, patient- centered environment of care for those we serve. It includes a 10-story acute care hospital, the six-story Bear Family Foundation Health Center and a freestanding behavioral health unit. An innovative, convenient, safe and compassionate place to provide and receive care, the new campus will incorporate modern efficiencies in a healing environment that prioritizes patient experience and safety; quality and efficiency; technology integration; flexible and adaptable areas with room for growth; healthy, sustainable buildings; and beautiful settings.

The new Baptist Health Care campus is expected to open in fall 2023.

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PENSACOLA, Fla.—With the coronavirus canceling most groundbreaking events for new healthcare construction, many such ceremonies have gone virtual, including one for a health campus now underway in Florida’s Panhandle.

In early November, construction officially started for Baptist Health Care’s new health campus, which is valued at $615 million and will be situated on a parcel of land encompassing 57 acres.  The new healthcare center will entail a 602,000-square-feet hospital that will have 264 beds spread out over 10 floors.  The beds will be spread out for various levels of care, including ICU, labor and delivery, and medical/surgery.  Specialized areas will be devoted to Level II trauma care, triage, specialty cardiac care as well as a dedicated surgery and operations department.

Another part of the campus will be home to the Multispecialty Health Center, a six-floor, 178,000-square-foot complex that will offer 162 examination rooms as well as spaces for oncology, women’s health, bariatrics, surgery pre-optimization, cardiology and wound care.

In addition to the healthcare facilities, the campus will also offer dedicated walking paths, a chapel and “healing garden,” cafeteria and coffee shop, room for outdoor classes and rehabilitation areas.  Future space is likely to be set up for a dine-in restaurant.

The health campus project was announced in the summer of 2019, and has continued during the pandemic with such job requirements as securing financing, and initial site preparation and design planning.

Design and construction firms have also been tapped by BHC for the project.  These include architectural firm Gresham Smith, program manager Meadows & Ohly and equipment and technology planner Smith Seckman and Reid.

Brasfield & Gorrie, whose home office is located in Birmingham, Ala., has been tapped to work as the new health campus’s general contractor.  In a statement emailed to HCO News, Brasfield & Gorrie Vice President and Division Manager Susan Stabler said that healthcare is essential to any community, and her firm believes in making such ties between people and healthcare stronger.

“We are honored to partner with Baptist Health Care in their mission to provide the people of Northwest Florida and South Alabama with world-class care,” Stabler said.

Due to the safety concerns surrounding holding a live groundbreaking ceremony, instead the event was broadcast on Facebook Live and YouTube on Nov. 3, 71 years to the day that Baptist Hospital, the crown jewel in BNC’s portfolio, first opened.

“This new health campus will serve our region now and for generations to come,” BHC president and CEO Mark Faulkner said in a statement during the groundbreaking.  “Our founders’ bold vision led to generations of quality care for our community.

“This transformational project will allow us to continue providing patient-centered care in a setting that offers the opportunity to evolve and adapt as the needs of our community change for generations to come.”

The campus itself is expected to be completed sometime in 2023.

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NAVARRE, Fla.—Baptist Health Care has partnered with the Texas-based healthcare firm Intuitive Health on a facility they are aiming to unveil this month in the Florida Panhandle, the joint partnership announced recently.

The Baptist Health Care Emergency Room & Urgent Care, located at the Baptist Medical Park in the Pensacola suburb of Navarre, is scheduled to open for business on September 28. This will be the first “hybrid” emergency room and urgent care clinic to operate in Northwest Florida.

Intuitive says that the advantage of a hybrid medical care model is that it simplifies how patients are assessed and then directed toward necessary treatments. Board-certified, ER-licensed physicians determine a course of treatment, be it emergency or urgent care. At the same time, the paradigm streamlines costs and reduces patient fees as ER visits are typically more expensive than urgent care-billed care.

“We’ve witnessed a growing issue across Northwest Florida surrounding trying to guide consumers to the appropriate level of care,” Brett Aldridge, vice president of business development at Baptist Health Care, said in a statement. “Requiring patients to determine the level of care they require by choosing either a freestanding ER or urgent care is neither feasible nor safe.

“Through our partnership with Intuitive Health, Baptist Health Care is eliminating the guesswork and improving patient experience with a full-service emergency room and urgent care under one roof.”

Intuitive has worked on these hybrid concept facilities in the past, and stocks each with a radiology suite, CT scanners and other important gear.

Added Thom Herrmann, CEO of Intuitive Health: “In addition to receiving the highest-quality of care, patients want convenience, immediate access to care, better customer service and greater transparency in the billing process. Partnering with Baptist Health Care to bring our dual urgent care and emergency care clinics to Pensacola is an exciting step toward making high-quality and transparent patient care more accessible nationwide.”

Baptist Health Care, which is based in the greater Pensacola area, is part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. Their system encompasses three hospitals, four medical parks as well as the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine and the Lakeview Center. The firm employs more than 7,000 people, making them one of the largest employers in the Florida Panhandle.

Their partner in the venture, Intuitive Health, has 10 locations in Texas, New Mexico and Indiana. The Baptist Health Care Emergency Room & Urgent Care will be Intuitive Health’s eleventh hybrid emergency room/urgent care facility in the nation and the fourth such facility in Florida.

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