HCA Healthcare is closer to construction of a free-standing emergency department in Arlington, with permits issued for site clearing and the foundation.
The permit is pending for construction of the building.
The 10,860-square-foot project is planned on 4 acres at 8100 Merrill Road, south of the Hartsfield Road connection with Merrill.
Auld & White Constructors LLC of Jacksonville is the contractor.
The city issued two permits and has one pending:
• Site clearing, issued Sept. 19, at a project cost of $50,000.
• The foundation, issued Nov. 4, at $200,000.
• Construction of the center at an estimated $6.5 million.
Including the property purchase, HCA Healthcare is investing at least $7.86 million into the project, not counting furniture, fixtures and equipment.
HCA Florida Memorial Hospital spokesperson Odette Struys said Sept. 18 by email that the health care company is projected to clear the land at the end of September and complete the ER by the second or third quarter of 2025.
The wooded site is west of Interstate 295 and next to a RaceTrac gas station and convenience store. The property is across from Merrill Station Shopping Center, which is anchored by a Walmart Neighborhood Market.
Memorial Healthcare Group Inc., part of HCA Healthcare headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, bought the site from SGRR LLC, which has members from Ponte Vedra, California and Wyoming.
Memorial Healthcare Group paid $1.111 million for the property in May 2023.
The building would comprise 11 treatment rooms, a waiting area, exam rooms, trauma area, lab, nurse station, restrooms and two canopies – one for the emergency vehicles and one for patient drop-off.
Hereford Dooley Architects Inc. of Nashville is the architect. Catalyst Design Group of Winter Park is the civil engineer.
HCAFloridaHealthcare.com says it has an emergency room at its main campus at 3625 University Blvd. S. and six more full-service emergency rooms open 24/7: Atlantic Emergency at 11850 Atlantic Blvd.; Mandarin Emergency at 10910 San Jose Blvd.; Julington Creek Emergency at 42 Doctors Village Drive in Saint Johns; Normandy Park Emergency at 5773 Normandy Blvd.; Park West Emergency at 6477 103rd St.; and Orange Park Hospital at 2001 Kingsley Ave.
It also is planning an additional ER to open in the first quarter of 2025 in Yulee in Nassau County.
Counting all of the others, Arlington is the ninth.
The Merrill Road site is within the Renew Arlington Community Redevelopment Area, which is designated by the city for upgrades and renewal.