Florida is home to the third-most ASCs of any state in the nation, and it ranks 16th in ASCs per capita.
Six ASC moves in the Sunshine State since June 15:
1. Tenet Healthcare is planning a hospital and ASC in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The 54-bed Florida Coast Medical and Surgical Center will offer orthopedics, spine, robotics, general surgery and advanced cardiac care. The site will also include two medical office towers.
2. The Surgery Center of Pottsville (Pa.) is closing on June 28 after 17 years in operation. Several recent physician-owner departures and retirements have made it challenging to run the business efficiently. The ASC opened with 13 surgeons in 2006, but now has only nine physicians, with one David Abraham, MD, an orthopedic surgeon, planning to move to Florida.
3. A former movie theater in Kissimmee, Fla., is being converted into a medical office building that will be home to an ASC, a lab and a radiology center. The 19,618-square-foot building will be transformed into a nearly 40,000-square-foot, two-story building. The project is estimated to cost $5 million.
4. A new $5 million medical center with an ASC is coming to Kissimmee, Fla. The project has been in the works for two years. It will include medical specialty clinics, a lab for blood work and radiology, and ancillary services including physical therapy. The medical center is expected to create more than 30 jobs with an average wage of more than $55,000, or about 37 percent more than the county's average wage.
5. Fort Pierce, Fla.-based Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, owned by Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, opened a $100 million, four-story tower expansion on June 23. The first floor is designated for outpatient services, while the second floor is dedicated to inpatient needs. The third and fourth floors are designated as shell space for future growth. Three operating rooms were added, with expansions to the preoperative and recovery areas.
6. Eye Health America, an eyecare-focused support organization, secured its 21st strategic partnership in adding Bradenton (Fla.) Eye Clinic to its network. Bradenton Eye Clinic has served its community since 1995 and was founded by Liaquat Allarakhia, MD.