South Florida Baptist Hospital just opened its new surgery center, but the updates and construction projects at the hospital will be continuing throughout this spring and summer.
In the last few weeks, two new operating rooms were approved and used for a few procedures. The surgery center’s final inspection was also completed. With the new center, the hospital is able to accommodate 12% more surgery patients in six areas: general surgery, orthopedic, gynecologic, neurospine, ENT and vascular.
But other areas of the hospital are also going through changes.
One wing of the hospital was given a new name: the Steve and Krista Howard Heart and Vascular Center. Though the heart and vascular center opened in 2010, it was named for these donors March 15, 2015.
Steve Howard is president and CEO of Patterson Companies in Plant City. He also has served on the board of the South Florida Baptist Hospital Foundation since 2013.
“(The Howards) have had family members who have suffered from heart disease, so it was a good match for him,” Karen Kerr, the hospital’s president, said.
The next big project for the hospital will be the addition of a new and bigger ICU. Construction will start this summer.
In 2006, the James and Ruby Jean Redman Emergency Center was constructed. Its second floor was slotted to be a future ICU, but has been used for offices until this year.
The current ICU has just eight beds. The new ICU on the second floor of the emergency center will offer an additional 17 beds, allowing more patients to transfer from the emergency room to their beds at a quicker rate. It is expected to be finished by spring 2016.
“It won’t require any additional positions to see the patients,” Kerr said. “The same doctors that we have to admit patients to the ICU will continue.”
Another improvement that will soon be seen at the hospital is the use of three-dimensional mammography. Hospital staff do not yet know when this will be ready for patients, but they know that it will be a big advancement.
“That will be a real plus for the women in Plant City because currently, we don’t have that capability anywhere in Plant City,” Kerr said.
Contact Catherine Sinclair at csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.