ST. JOHN, Fla. – Memorial Hospital is making plans to build a 12-bed emergency room in northwest St. Johns County later this year.
The freestanding ER at 3635 Race Track Road will be the first of four Hospital Corporation of America plans to build in Florida.
"We are excited about being able to provide emergency care to an area that needs it," said Memorial Hospital CEO James O'Loughlin.
Several hospitals submitted requests for freestanding ERs in their areas, but strong community support and a generous economic incentives package from St. Johns County convinced HCA to proceed with the project.
"It's one thing for us to say an ER is needed. It's a lot different when you have citizens and county leaders saying it's vitally needed," O'Loughlin said.
The Race Track Road location will be a full-service ER with a dedicated pediatrics area and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This facility will be licensed by the state as an emergency department and will give St. Johns County rescue crews a place to transport patients from northwest St. Johns County without driving to hospitals in Jacksonville or St. Augustine.
"It's not one of those 24-hour urgent care places," Memorial Hospital spokesman Adam Landau said. "It handles far more severe injuries. If someone is having chest pains, that is the place they would go. It really is there to give the community comfort."
While hospital officials say the emergency room will boost the community, others who live in the area say it will turn into a pain.
"We were told there was going to be a village of doctors' offices and a cafe and family events, and then that changed with very little news to us to a freestanding ER that would have ambulance traffic and other emergency traffic right here on this main road, where there are kids going to and from school every day," said Holly Bourquin, who owns a nearby home.
St. Johns County commissioner Cyndi Stevenson came across Bourquin on Monday and talked with her about her concerns.
Stevenson said many of the issues have been addressed. For example, she said 93 percent of the ambulance calls in the area did not involved lights and sirens, and there is a 300- to 500-foot buffer zone around the area.
"It certainly makes our community safer and our emergency teams more efficient to be able to turn around on less intense cases," Stevenson said.
The emergency room is expected to open later this year.
