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Orange Park Medical Center to break ground on free-standing ER in spring

By Nikki Schoenbeck nikki@opcfla.com
Posted 7/14/21

MIDDLEBURG – Orange Park Medical Center unveiled plans for a new emergency center at 2554 Blanding Blvd. The facility is scheduled for groundbreaking next spring.

A freestanding ER is crucial …

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Orange Park Medical Center to break ground on free-standing ER in spring


Posted

MIDDLEBURG – Orange Park Medical Center unveiled plans for a new emergency center at 2554 Blanding Blvd. The facility is scheduled for groundbreaking next spring.

A freestanding ER is crucial for both patients and physicians as it leads to faster and more efficient wait times. With the new addition to Middleburg, residents who don’t live close to Orange Park or who have a medical emergency that needs attention immediately can be treated. The ER shouldn’t be confused for an urgent care facility and should be used for medical emergencies only. 

Dr. Steven Goodfriend, an Emergency Room physician and Emergency Services Medical Director of Orange Park Medical Center believes this new ER will help to serve more people in Clay County. 

“It’s going to be a perfect fit for the community...Just meeting the needs of the area. It’s like bringing the hospital to them. It just brings everything closer to you and it provides a more convenient way to be seen by a doctor. Most people think of ERs like ‘Oh my God, I’m going to sit and wait there forever but with these freestanding ER’s it’s a much quicker process,” Goodfriend said. 

Along with reducing wait times in regular hospitals and helping physicians clear up the congestion of ER’s, the freestanding ER’s will also be beneficial to EMTs. Rather than having to drive long distances in order to reach a hospital, ambulances can drive their patients to a freestanding ER. Freestanding ERs are completely equipped as regular ER’s and can provide life-saving care when needed. 

“We’ll have overdoses, heart attacks, we’ll deliver babies sometimes. Obviously, we’d rather do some of those things at the hospital so we’re geared toward the emergency level care,” Goodfriend said.

Goodfriend wants people to know the new ER will be centered around convenience and efficiency along with providing quality patient care. The new ER will feature 11 patient rooms and be the third freestanding ER for OPMC.