SEBASTIAN — Sebastian River Medical Center is about to get a lot bigger, adding 10 operating rooms and 48 patient rooms in a 94,000-square-foot expansion.
The expansion will include a three-story center tower containing the new private rooms and the operating suite – which will include seven surgical suites, two endoscopy rooms and one bronchoscopy procedure room, all intended to dramatically increase the number and scope of procedures performed at the Sebastian hospital.
Groundbreaking on the $64 million project is set for Aug. 29.
“We are excited our expansion project is about to begin,” says hospital CEO Kelly Enriquez. “This expansion will enhance our ability to continue delivering quality care and maintain our commitment to our community into the future.”
In addition to the new construction, some 20,000 square feet of existing space will be renovated during the construction project.
With the renovation and the addition of the three-story tower, the hospital will have 200 licensed beds, about twice as many as when it opened 42 years ago.
The new entrance will be at the back of the current hospital’s structure.
SRMC Marketing Director Angela Dickens says preparations are underway to ensure continued patient comfort and access throughout the construction and renovation project.
Leading up to the major physical facility expansion, the hospital has been hiring new doctors – 14 physicians in the past 12 months – in specialties that include pulmonology, cardiology, gastroenterology, gynecology, otolaryngology, orthopedics, neurology, interventional radiology and primary care.
SRMC sits on an 18-acre site on U.S. 1 north of Roseland, near the bridge over the St. Sebastian River.
The hospital first opened its doors in 1974 as a 103-bed facility. In the years since then it has been owned by several hospital corporations. Humana Corp. purchased the hospital in 1978 and sold it 15 years later to Health Management Associates.
Current owner Community Health Systems bought HMA in 2014, taking over SRMC as part of its portfolio of healthcare properties.
