FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. – A 17,000-square-foot outpatient surgery center has been added to the Baptist Clay Medical Campus in Fleming Island.
The new surgery center, which is an extension of the current medical campus off U.S. 17, will give people in Clay County more access.
That means seeing a specialist or getting a minimally invasive procedure will soon be closer to home for people such as Beth English.
"It's more convenient," said Beth English, a patient at Baptist Clay. "I had to go see a doctor in Jacksonville and it was over an hour drive. So then an hour drive and then an hour with the physician and an hour back."
The new surgery center will serve the growing area with an increasing demand for outpatient surgeries -- anything from joint to urological procedures.
The center has two smart operating rooms that are each about 600 square feet -- almost double the size of a standard operating room. The operating rooms will give surgeons access to state-of-the-art equipment, such as a scope with a 4-millimeter camera. It offers surgeons 4K-quality video so they can work with extreme precision.
The center was also built with comfort in mind for patients and their families. It has televisions and private rooms.
"We tried to make it a comfortable experience where the family can wait in the room while the patient is having the procedure versus having to wait in a crowded lobby," Darin Roark, vice president of Baptist Health's Ambulatory Campuses and System Emergency Services, told News4Jax on Wednesday.
The design even focused on details such as lighting.
"In a typical hospital setting, the one thing you remember is rolling down the hallway on a stretcher with the light above your head," Roark explained. "If you look here, the lights are positioned on the side and they still light the entire room."
The finishing touches, including painting and moving in new equipment, are currently being made on the new surgery center. The Surgery Center at Baptist Clay will start taking patients on Tuesday, Dec. 4.