Health care system breaks ground on new hospital

VENICE — Sarasota Memorial Health Care System recently broke ground on a new hospital and 65-acre medical campus in Venice.

A ceremony was held next to a partially cleared site where the new four-story, 350,000-square-foot hospital will be built, according to a statement. The site is on the corner of Laurel and Pinebrook roads near Interstate-75. 

“The Hospital Board has had a longstanding goal of bringing Sarasota Memorial’s high level of care to the south county region," Sarasota County Public Hospital Board Chairman Joseph DeVirgilio said during remarks at the event. "It’s been a long journey, but today is a major step forward in our efforts to ensure that our growing community has convenient access to our five-star medical services.”

The hospital will open with 110 private rooms, including 90 acute-care beds and 20 beds for observation patients along with a 28-room emergency care center and eight surgical suites. The release adds that all-private suites will include 10 labor and delivery/post-partum suites. 

The campus has the capacity to expand to 270 patient rooms, 16 operating rooms and a 50-bed emergency room. SMH expects to open the hospital with about 700 staff members, according to the statement.  

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center with more than 900,000 patient visits each year. Its flagship hospital in Sarasota.