NORTH PORT—Since Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMHCS) opened Southwest Florida's first 24-hour freestanding Emergency Room in North Port earlier this fall, volumes have been double and sometimes triple the initial projections.

 

The new type of emergency facility in south Sarasota County —one of the largest of its kind in Florida—is fully equipped with walk-in and ambulance entrances, triage, trauma and exam rooms, and a 23-hour observation unit for patients who need medical treatment and evaluation, but do not need to be admitted to the hospital.

 

The healthcare center also sharing the new 50,000-square-foot building's first floor features a complete laboratory and provides an impressive list of outpatient services, including imaging tests such as X-ray, ultrasound, digital mammography, CT and MRI scans; a clinical laboratory for diagnostic tests; rehabilitation/physical therapy programs; home health and more.  
"Together, the freestanding ER and outpatient center provide most of the essential medical services the community needs, just minutes from where they live," said Sarasota Memorial CEO Gwen MacKenzie. "This will serve the community well, while hopefully attracting more and more primary care and specialty physicians to support a hospital in North Port."

 

North Port's Emergency Care Center was built and opened during double dip recession conditions, as many of the nation's hospitals cut costs by closing their doors and scaling back unprofitable services.

 

Moving forward with the $20 million project was important to Sarasota Memorial leaders.

 

"North Port residents have long asked for a hospital of their own, citing the 25-minute drive time to the nearest emergency room from the medically underserved community," said SMHCS administrator David Carter. "In recent years, the state has turned down repeated requests to build a hospital in the 103-square-mile city, saying nearby facilities were adequate to serve its 50,000-plus population."

 

Four other freestanding ERs are located throughout Florida; there are roughly 200 across the country, according to the American Hospital Association.

 

"They're part of a growing trend that reflects the nationwide drop in hospital admissions and growth in outpatient care," said Carter, "where advanced technology and treatments are designed to keep people out of the hospital."

 

Even though it is not a full-service hospital, the freestanding ER is no lightweight. It is staffed round-the-clock by board-certified emergency medicine physicians. As part of the Sarasota Memorial network, it is fully integrated with the hospital's resources, including the main campus' high-tech electronic medical records system.

 

More specifically, the new ER has 21 high-tech treatment rooms, specialized treatment rooms for trauma, gynecologic, and psychiatric care, and a dedicated ambulance–courtesy of a Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation grant—for transporting patients that need to be admitted to a hospital from the ER to Sarasota Memorial or the hospital of their choice. Pharmacy services are located onsite.