Page 38 - SFHN March 2018

HEALTHCARE REAL ESTATE

Cover Story: Baptist Plans to Rebuild

Fishermen’s Community Hospital

Continued from page 1 there was a lot of excessive room,” says
with a goal of raising $15 million of that Freeburg. “Healthcare has changed since
total through philanthropy. then—there were more inpatients when
Fishermen’s Community Hospital, it was constructed. Today, 85 percent of
which was initially built in 1959, joined our business is done on an outpatient
the Baptist Health family in July 2017 as basis because of advances in healthcare
an all-purpose, critical access hospital technology. We don’t need to build the
offering a 24/7 emergency room, inpa- same size that was built in the 1950s.”
tient and outpatient surgery, diagnostic To recruit new medical staff, Baptist
imaging, lab testing, and physical and Health plans to emphasize living in the
occupational therapy. Keys as well as its reputation for being an
Since September, Fishermen’s opened exemplary employer.
a field hospital on the current grounds to “People love to come and visit the
continue to serve the Middle Keys com- Keys, so why wouldn’t you want to live
munity. The field hospital offers emer- here,” says Freeburg. “So we’ll be push-
gency care, diagnostic equipment and a ing that aspect. Since there’s a strong
lab. Baptist Health will invest $3 million existence of Baptist Health’s reputation
to replace this field hospital with a cus- for being a good employer, we expect
tom-designed modular hospital in the that might draw some employees as
same location, with expanded capabili- well.”
ties and staffing that will remain in place Of course, funding will be a challenge
until the entirely new facility opens. as well. To support the major initiative,
“The modular hospital will be built on Baptist Health Foundation – the
the current parking lot,” says Freeburg. fundraising division of Baptist Health
“We’ll have some inpatient capabilities, South Florida – will launch the “Our
along with imaging rooms and labs, and Community, Your Hospital” campaign to
other services such as physical therapy achieve the philanthropic goal for
and respiratory therapy. We won’t have Fishermen’s.
an operating room, instead patients will In a press release, Fishermen’s
go to Mariners Hospital if they need sur- Community Hospital Board Chair, Jay
gery.” Hershoff, Esq., stated, “Baptist Health
The new hospital, expected to break and its physicians, staff and volunteers
ground in early 2019, will consist of need community support to make this
approximately 25 beds, a 24/7 emer- happen. Through the generosity of the
gency room, inpatient and outpatient community and that of Baptist Health,
surgery, diagnostic imaging, lab testing, the dedicated staff at Fishermen’s can
and physical and occupational therapy. continue to provide the high-quality,
To make more efficient use of space, the compassionate care that they have deliv-
hospital plans to feature LEED-certified ered for the last six decades.”
construction and reduce its footprint to
about 40,000 square feet. The former To learn more, visit
facility used about 76,000 square feet. www.baptisthealth.net.
“Fishermen’s was a 52-bed hospital so

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38 March 2018 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News