By Dan Hounsell, Senior Editor

The original plan for the new South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City, Florida, was to celebrate the groundbreaking in mid-August 2021. Ironically, the event was postponed so the hospital team could focus on caring for the community during the most recent COVID spike.

Finally, on Oct. 18, hospital leadership and community members came together to formally celebrate the start of construction of the new hospital. The new hospital is a replacement for South Florida Baptist Hospital and is located in a highly visible, high growth area less than 4 miles from the current location. An 85,000-square-foot medical office building will also be at the new site.

The new hospital will feature 146 private rooms with the ability to expand. The new building will have 26 ICU beds and a 30-bed emergency department. It also is adding four interventional/cardiac Cath suites and an eight-bed surgery center. It provides room to add medical office space outpatient lab services, physician offices, rehab and wound care services, among others.

The original South Florida Baptist Hospital opened in 1953 and has undergone 12 major additions, renovations and expansions since then. The first addition was in 1969 with a three-story hospital wing and most recent was in 2017 with the expansion of the Heart and Vascular Center. Construction is underway for the new hospital building, which is expected to be complete in early 2024.