With the exterior structure of the new University of Miami Health System (UHealth) building at Doral installed, the construction process of the healthcare center that will include 33 exam rooms, 33 clinical trials unit, and eight operating rooms, among services from several specialties, is well underway for its 2024 opening.
The recruitment of healthcare providers for the new six-story, 150,000-square-foot outpatient ambulatory center began late last year, said Dr. Roy Weiss, chief medical officer for Ambulatory Services at UHealth.
Around 90 physicians and advanced practice providers are in the process of being hired, and about 300 other new jobs, including nurses, technicians, and support staff, are to be hired starting September, a year prior to opening day on Sept. 16, 2024.
“We’re really proud of the progress,” said Dr. Weiss. “We have new renderings of what the inside of the project is going to look like, based on feedback from patients and visitors, especially from the community.”
The Doral community, he said, participated in patient experience feedback surveys about what they would like the new UHealth Doral facility to look like. Almost 100 patients responded and offered recommendations.
Currently, the interior is being constructed. About 55% of all medical equipment and furniture have been purchased, and operations support systems and technology are being installed, said Dr. Weiss.
UHealth’s presence in Doral was phased in two parts. In the first phase, the space adjacent to the new structure – an 18,000-square-foot building at 8333 NW 53rd St. – which currently provides oncology, urology and dermatology services was leased in September 2022 to meet immediate demand during the last two years of construction of the main facility, according to a UHealth spokesperson.
The second phase was construction of the new facility, which is modeled after the Lennar Foundation Medical Center on University of Miami grounds in Coral Gables. Once it is completed, oncology services in the adjacent space will transfer to the main facility, and the adjacent space will be renovated to accommodate about 30 more exam rooms, said the spokesperson.
Other services offered will include cardiology, dermatology, gynecology, endocrinology, interventional radiology, orthopedics, surgery, neurology, emergency medical care, radiation oncology, “and other services, including breast imaging, and an all-encompassing total care for anyone who requires wellness,” he said.
The total footage of the complete Doral facility would be 178,000 square feet with up to 63 exam rooms as the center grows in the future.
“This building is going to be providing the latest cutting-edge care in an academic medical center,” said Dr. Weiss. “We bring to the patients’ ambulatory clinic the latest and most advanced centerpiece in diagnostics tests that will provide good health for the community.”
Source: Miami Today