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OPMC to expand again with 48 new patient beds, expanded ICU

By Don Coble don@opcfla.com
Posted 6/2/21

ORANGE PARK – Long before the $126 million expansion at Orange Park Medical Center opened nearly three months ago, plans already were in place for a $34 million expansion that will add 48 private …

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OPMC to expand again with 48 new patient beds, expanded ICU


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Long before the $126 million expansion at Orange Park Medical Center opened nearly three months ago, plans already were in place for a $34 million expansion that will add 48 private patient rooms and 20 additional state of art beds in the intensive care unit.

The expansion will make the facility on Kingsley Avenue the fifth largest hospital in the Jacksonville area.

As Clay County continues to grow, especially with the addition of the First Coast Expressway, CEO Lisa Valentine said it’s important for health providers to work ahead of growth, not to respond to it.

“We’re working really hard to keep up. You can tell, one of the things that’s really important to us as a leading provider of health care in Clay County, is we want to make sure residents and families can stay close to home when they need care,” she said. “This new $34 million project was in the planning stages before the last project ended, because we saw the demand; we saw the county population growth. We’re trying to stay ahead. We’re doing a good job staying ahead of that growing demand.”

OPMC opened a 101,435-square-foot, five-story tower that included 48 new beds that brought the hospital’s bed count to 365. The lower floor featured a new registration area. The second and third floors will be home to additional beds in the future.

Construction on the new addition is expected to start no later than February 2022, Valentine said, and the project is expected to be completed by the fall of 2023. One opened, the number of total beds in ICU will be increased to 68.

“To do that, we're doing three things: No. 1, we’re creating high-qualified sub-specialty positions to add to the wonderful group of physicians who already serve Orange Park Medical Center and the community; secondly, we’re expanding critical programs to make sure we’re offering the services that our residents need; and third, of course we’re growing our campus,” Valentine said. “All of those things are really intended to ensure that we can keep up with growth and we can take care of families and patients when they need us.

“We’re looking out five, 10, 15 years from now on what we think the county will need, what we think our patients will need and how we continue to do drive this facility that helps meet those future demands. If you’re not looking that far out, you’re already behind.”

The medical center reported it treated more than ICU 1,700 patients last year.

“As we continue to care for an even greater complexity of patient needs here at Orange Park Medical Center, our ICU capacities and capabilities must adapt in parallel,” says Dr. Justin Gisel, Board Certified Critical Care and Pulmonary Disease Physician at Orange Park Medical Center. “We look to continue providing the highest levels of care in our expanding Medical, Surgical, Trauma, Cardiothoracic, and Neurological ICUs and look forward to this new expansion.”

The new project will bring the latest in advanced patient room design and clinical technology to enhance clinical communication, collaboration and patient outcomes, OPMC said. For example, each new inpatient room will feature an advanced integrated system connecting the patient’s bed and the nurse call system. Rooms will feature a 50-inch TV allowing patients the ability to watch their choice of entertainment on an Apple TV and display their medical information and care updates simultaneously. The rooms will also include Centrak technology, displaying a pop-up on the TV announcing their care team member’s names upon entering the space, and will have high-speed internet available for patients and visitors. The expansion also will include a 300-space parking lot.