HCA Healthcare continues working toward construction of a free-standing emergency department in Arlington, now with three pending permits for site clearing, the foundation and construction of the structure.
Including the property purchase, HCA Healthcare is investing at least $7.86 million into the project, not counting furniture, fixtures and equipment.
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 for the project.
The three permit applications comprise:
• The foundation at an estimated cost of $200,000.
• Site clearing at a project cost of $50,000.
• Construction of the center at an estimated $6.5 million.
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.
“As a part of HCA Florida Healthcare, we are always looking to bring healthcare closer to where people live and work … to expand our care in this neighborhood,” Struys said in a previous statement.
Struys said April 5 that HCA Florida Healthcare is “bringing care closer to our friends and neighbors in Arlington, and (we) look forward to announcing specific plans in the future.”
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.
Jacksonville City Council rezoned the property in August 2023 from Commercial Office to Commercial, Residential and Office.