The city is reviewing civil engineering plans for a significant Downtown Southbank expansion for Baptist Medical Center.
Baptist Medical Center intends to expand its emergency department with a 110,000-square foot addition and renovation of its existing emergency services building under plans whose design was approved Jan. 16 by the Downtown Development Review Board.
Jacksonville-based England-Thims & Miller Inc. submitted the civil engineering plans to the city Feb. 19.
Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida Inc. is the owner and developer. Hoefer Welker is the architect.
A DDRB staff report says the addition will be four stories plus a 20-foot utility penthouse, for a total of 76 feet in height.
The building is planned on a 17-acre parcel containing eight multistory buildings on the Baptist campus at 800 Prudential Drive.
A site plan attached to the report shows the new construction being built to the west of the emergency services building that will be renovated. That building also contains the cardiovascular surgery suite.
Renderings show a facade mostly made of glass, with a portion of the structure featuring gray walls with red accents and an overhang covering the ground-floor walkway.
Parking will be available in surrounding garages, the report says.
Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital announced plans Jan. 27 to build the emergency tower addition.
Baptist Medical Center said in a news release that construction will begin this year and the project will open in phases with a 2029 target date for completion.
The hospital said it will add 123,000 square feet to the existing facility.
“Our main campus provides care for more emergency patients than any other hospital in the greater Jacksonville area,” said Michael A. Mayo, president and CEO of Baptist Health, in the release.
“We feel strongly, and our Board wholeheartedly agrees, that it is critical to ensure we not only provide the best quality of care but also make the experience the best it can be for our patients and caregivers alike.”
Plans call for two distinct emergency rooms with waiting areas. There will be 100 emergency treatment rooms – 63 for adults and 37 for children – as well as three pediatric trauma rooms on the first floor. There will be imaging, labs and other resources to facilitate emergency care.
An endoscopy suite and expanded areas for pre- and post-operative heart care will be on the second floor.
Build-out of an additional 68 inpatient rooms will be on the third and fourth floors and completed in later phases.
The Baptist Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital ERs will remain open 24/7 during construction.