AdventHealth expanding emergency department in Davenport
DAVENPORT, Fla. - Polk County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state and more people means there needs to be better access to medical care.
Lakeland Regional Health was ranked the second-busiest emergency room in the country, and they're expanding to keep up with demand.
Now another hospital system is also expanding in the county.
Over the past four-and-a-half years, AdventHealth Heart of Florida in Davenport has seen phenomenal growth in Northeast Polk County.
"We've seen growth from 48,000 annual visits to where we're anticipating treating nearly 59,000 patients this year alone," said Justin Hengesbach, Vice President of AdventHealth - Polk.
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The county’s population is expected to grow by more than 20% by 2030, so the hospital had to grow itself to meet that need.
$7.5 million was invested in expanding their emergency department.
Currently, they see about 4,000 patients a month or 140 patients a day.
They added 10 new emergency rooms, bringing the total to 37 ER beds, which means up to 200 patients can be treated per day.
They also added a chapel and renovated the registration areas.
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"Our ER team can now on average see a patient from the time they come in the door to when they see a provider within eight minutes," said Julie Hess, Chief Operating Officer of AdventHealth Heart of Florida. "When you're stressed or concerned about an emergency, that's so reassuring for our patients."
Hospital officials said the expansion came at just the right time.
"I'm happy to say we're opening this now as respiratory season usually has the increase in emergency room visits, so this will mean that patients who begin to feel ill will have close, local, and fast care," said Hess.
AdventHealth is also investing in a new emergency room facility in Winter Haven which will be open by Summer 2024.