Tag Archive for: health first

Health First Breaks Ground On Cape Canaveral Hospital And MOB In Merritt Island

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Rockledge, Florida-based Health First broke ground on the new Cape Canaveral Hospital and Medical Office Building (MOB) in Merritt Island.

The 268,000-square-foot hospital will include 120 private inpatient beds, 25 emergency department (ED) treatment rooms, and six operating rooms (ORs). The three-story MOB will span 92,000 square feet.

Both projects are expected to open in early 2027.

The hospital will be designed to withstand a Category 4 hurricane. Additionally, the entire campus site will be constructed 13 feet above sea level to withstand storm surge and an on-site central energy plant will ensure continuous power function even during tropical storms and hurricanes.

 

Source:  Healthcare Design Magazine

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Health First Board OKs Scaling Back Merritt Island Hospital Project, Saving $100 Million

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Health First says it will save about $100 million by scaling back its planned hospital complex off State Road 520 on Merritt Island, abandoning the “wellness village” concept in favor of a more conventional project.

The new 120-bed, seven-story hospital will replace the current 150-bed, six-story Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach. The Merritt Island site also will have a medical office building; a two- to three-deck parking garage; surface parking; and areas of outdoor green space.

But the 14-acre site will not have the “wellness village” additions originally envisioned. Health First’s original plan for a wellness village included retailers, restaurants, a coffee shop, a juice bar, a day care center, a fitness center, a spa and other amenities.

Brett Esrock, executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Health First, detailed the scaled-back plan in an email and question-and-answer summary sent Thursday to the company’s medical staff and other health professionals.

Health First is downsizing its plan for the new hospital project in the face of rising construction expenses coupled with financial losses experienced by Health First. Those losses were triggered by rising staffing costs, the COVID-19 pandemic, investment losses and other factors.

In his email, Esrock wrote: “At Health First, we knew it was critical for us to reevaluate how we can best serve our community ― while being fiscally responsible. That’s why our collaborative design team came up with a revised concept, transitioning our vision from a wellness village to a conventional health care campus.”

Esrock said Health First’s board of directors has authorized the health care company to continue the detailed redesign and engineering work through the end of this year for this revised concept.

How much will the new project cost?

The price tag is estimated at $410 million, which Esrock said is about $100 million lower than its initial concept. Esrock said the new figures “factor in the cost of inflation, which we certainly anticipate.”

Health First said construction costs had risen about 30% since the original project was proposed.

What will some of the hospital’s features be?

The replacement hospital will be 281,000 square feet, with 120 patient beds.

“The hospital will feature a contemporary design and state-of-the-art technology,” Esrock said. “Plus, it’ll be built to our state’s hurricane building standards. A central energy plant will be on the premises to ensure continuous power functions, even during tropical storms and hurricanes.”

What will the medical office building be like?

Esrock said the new 91,567-square-foot medical office building “will offer access to a variety of wellness and health services,” but details are still to be determined.

What is the construction timeline?

Esrock said Health First has begun the designing and engineering portion of the project.

 

 

Source:  Florida Today

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Health First Scales Back Merritt Island Wellness Village Concept

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Health First is making some changes to its Wellness Village concept in Merritt Island.

The Rockledge-based nonprofit health system will remove some of the retail elements from its proposed project at 255 Borman Drive in Merritt Island. The project will still include a 120-bed hospital to replace its 150-bed Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach, a 90,000-square-foot medical office building, a parking structure and a central energy plan, but concepts like a restaurant, coffee shops, health information center and retail shops will no longer be included.

Health First Spokesman Lance Skelly told Orlando Business Journal that a combination in increasing labor, materials, energy, transportation and construction costs were part of the decision, along with the rising cost of doing business for its health care operations.

“Health care systems and hospitals cannot simply raise or adjust its prices in response to external pressures like — say— an airline, hotel, restaurant, theme park or grocery store can,” Skelly said. “Because of these rapidly increasing costs, and with no slowdown in sight, we’ve decided to reevaluate the timing and elements of our Wellness Villages – including Merritt Island.”

Construction on the hospital and other elements is expected to start in 2024. Wellness Village sites in Melbourne and Palm Bay have been paused, but only to be reevaluated and nothing has been taken off the table yet, Skelly said.

The changes come as Health First reported that in its fiscal 2022 it had an overall loss of $232.5 million, versus a net gain of $189.3 million in its fiscal 2021, according to its bond report for the year ended Sept. 30.

Founded in 1995, Health First has more than 9,000 employees and owns four hospitals, health insurance plans and a multispecialty physician group.

Meanwhile, health care construction activity is on the rise nationwide, as well as in Central Florida.

Raleigh, North Carolina-based FMI Corp. expects health care construction spending in the U.S. to go from $53 billion in 2022 to $62 billion in 2025. That is due to demand for services for an aging population and the addition of people to certain parts of the country.

 

Source:   OBJ

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Brevard Planning Board OKs Zoning Change, Variances For New Merritt Island Hospital

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Despite concerns raised by residents of a neighboring condominium development, a county advisory board this week approved zoning changes and variances that would allow Health First to build a new hospital and “wellness village” on Merritt Island.

The unanimous approval  from the Brevard County Planning and Zoning Board follows a similar unanimous vote on April 28 from the Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency. Health First’s proposal now goes to the Brevard County Commission for a potential final vote on May 26.

Health First wants to build a seven-story, 120-bed hospital with an adjoining medical office building and “wellness village” on a 15.05-acre site, across State Road 520 from Merritt Square Mall. The $508 million complex would replace the current six-story, 150-bed Cape Canaveral Hospital off State Road 520 in Cocoa Beach, which would close when the new hospital opens.

 

Source:  Florida Today

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New Details On Health First’s Planned Island Hospital, ‘Wellness Village’

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Health First‘s massive plan for a new hospital and “wellness village” off State Road 520 on Merritt Island is starting to get its first formal public airings, as the project seeks regulatory approval.

This month, Health First will seek the support of the Brevard County Planning and Zoning Board and the Brevard County Commission for a series of zoning changes and related waivers that would allow the project to move forward.

Health First hopes to open the new seven-story, 120-bed hospital as early as 2025. It would replace the current six-story, 150-bed Cape Canaveral Hospital on State Road 520 in Cocoa Beach, which would close when the new hospital opens.

The wellness village will consist of the medical office building, child day care center, fitness center, coffee shop, education center, spa, retail, food hall, market/juice bar, event space, amphitheater and information tower. The wellness village also will contain landscaping and pedestrian walkways, as well as emergency, maintenance and event vehicle access.

 

Source:  Florida Today

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