Pictured from left to right are Larry Blackburn, Turner Construction Co.; Alan Miller, MD, Chief of Staff; Catherine Cooper, MD, Board of Governors; Gary Tibbetts, representing U.S. Congressman Vern Buchanan; Carol Whitmore, Board of County Commissioners; Kevin DiLallo, CEO; Scott Jarrette, Universal Health Services, Inc.; Wayne Poston, Mayor of Bradenton; David Fouche, J2 Solutions Inc.; Hugh Miller, Chairman, Board of Governors; Dr. Teresa Rawe, Medical Director, Emergency Department; Steve Jonsson, Board of County Commissioners; Jim Boyd, State Representative and Board of Governors; Mark Goodson, Vice Chairman, Board of Governors; Betsy Benac, Chairman, Board of County Commissioners; Priscilla Whisenant Trace, Board of County Commissioners; and Dr. Carol Probstfeld, President, State College of Florida.
As the region continues its rapid growth, Manatee Memorial Hospital is keeping up with it and expanding care for the community. Construction is currently underway for the hospital’s latest addition – a new emergency care center, expected to be completed in the fall of 2018. The 34,000-square-foot addition will feature 48 treatment spaces organized in four nursing team clinical care areas. Within the treatment areas, there will be 24 universal exam rooms, 8 fast-track rooms and 16 super-track rooms, which are functionally able to flex as needed based on demand. There also will be a dedicated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) covered drive access with three staging and support areas for their vehicles.
The new center will have three behavioral health rooms; two resuscitation rooms; one bariatric room with integral patient lift; one gynecology room; and two negative pressure/contact isolation rooms. Emergency personnel will have convenient access to imaging, surgery, cath labs, as well as patient care areas such as ICU and Medical/ Surgical units. Chief Executive Officer Kevin DiLallo says they set a hospital record last year for the number of patients who came through the ER - 82,000. “We have broken our own record for the last several years, and we expect a 16 percent growth within the next five years. This new addition will help us accommodate the increase of patients and streamline care, all in an effort to improve the patient experience and lower wait times,” he says.