SEBASTIAN — Over 150 Sebastian River Medical Center (SRMC) executives, Board Trustees, administration, physicians, hospital staff, local dignitaries, residents and business representatives congregated on July 8 for the Groundbreaking Ceremony of SRMC’s new building of private room suites. The $25 million development, slated to open in early 2011 behind the existing hospital, will have three levels. The first floor will house a 16-bed intensive care unit, while the second and third floors will feature a total of 42 private patient suites. The new building will connect to the existing facility, so patients, visitors and medical staff will be able to easily move between departments. The expansion project will add 350 additional parking spaces to the existing parking area. These additional spaces will offer patients, visitors and staff improved accessibility to the expanded facility. “Our first suite of private rooms is located inside the hospital and is indicative of what can be expected from our new building,” states Emily Holliman, Chief Executive Officer for the hospital. “Patients utilizing these new suites, opened in January of this year, have had positive experiences. We are looking forward to being able to accommodate many more patients with private rooms once this project is completed.”A Flag Ceremony led by the Sebastian Area Veterans Honor Guard and an Invocation by Father John Morrissey of St. Sebastian Catholic Church, led the way to speeches by Ms. Holliman, State Representative Deborah Mayfield, and Gary D. Newsome, President and Chief Executive Officer of Health Management Associates, Inc. The Groundbreaking Ceremony participants from Health Management Associates, Inc, SRMC Board of Trustees and Administration included Holliman, Newsome and Mayfield as well as Josh Putter, Mark Spafford, John McEachern, Ron Gicca, Rene VanDeVoorde, and Dr. Michael Venazio.
