Tampa General Hospital Launches the Largest Master Facility Plan in the Hospital's History

Tampa General Hospital is growing to meet the needs of the community by investing $550 million in major expansions and upgrades, starting with the opening of a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

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Tampa General Hospital

Sep 22, 2021, 12:20 ET

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General is launching the largest master facility plan in the hospital's history to continue growing and innovating to meet the needs of the community and beyond for decades to come.

Equipped with advanced care technologies, Tampa General's new ICU is the first step in a $550 million expansion to meet the growing needs of the academic medical center's 12-county service area in west central Florida.

"Our vision at Tampa General is to become the safest and most innovative academic health system in America," said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. "It is critical that we continue to bring the most advanced technology and cutting-edge care to our patients in Florida and beyond. This is the largest master facility plan expansion in our hospital's history, and it is an investment in our patients, in our academic health system, and in our community. It's a key part of our efforts to improve the lives and health of Floridians."

Tampa General Hospital is one of the most comprehensive academic medical facilities in Florida, serving a dozen counties with a population of over five million people – and growing at a rapid rate of 1.4 percent each year. With this growth, Tampa General projects an increase of patient admissions of 0.9 percent by the end of the decade.

Tampa General is strategically initiating this comprehensive master facility plan as part of its commitment to serving the Tampa Bay region's increasing health care needs through its role as the area's leading safety net hospital. In fiscal 2020, the academic medical center provided 34 percent of health charity care costs in Hillsborough and 17 percent across the Tampa Bay area. For that same period, Tampa General provided a net community benefit worth more than $182.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay.

"This $550 million capital commitment allows us to invest in innovation and supports the creation of tomorrow's TGH. We are truly building into the future," said Kelly Cullen, EVP and chief operating officer of Tampa General. Cullen is leading the development and implementation of the multi-year master facility plan.

Tampa General will add to both its geographic footprint and its vertical profile as it adds the following improvements and new structures:

New ICU – now open, this project added 34 ICU rooms with upgraded and advanced care technologies
Bayshore Pavilion vertical expansion – the project will add four floors to Tampa General's Bayshore Pavilion (above the Emergency Department), providing 12 new operating rooms and 100 new beds
Regional Burn Center renovation and expansion – now underway, this project will provide larger rooms, more efficient layouts and the new design will be complete in May 2022
Renovate main operating room suite – the project will renovate operating rooms and modernize and upgrade equipment
Freestanding emergency department – located one mile from the hospital's main campus on Kennedy Boulevard and North Willow Avenue, the 15,000-square-foot facility will provide additional ED capacity to serve community needs
New corporate parking garage – an eight-story, 2,000-space parking garage will be built at the TGH Corporate Center off Kennedy Boulevard to consolidate off-site team member parking
TGH Brandon Healthplex Oncology Institute – new clinic space will be added to provide multidisciplinary integrated oncology services: a hub for diagnostic testing, treatments, and support services
Purchase of Hillsborough Community College Davis Islands building – this building, adjacent to the main hospital campus, will be outfitted for administrative, education and training space
Central energy plant expansion – the project will expand power generation capabilities to provide 100 percent redundant protected power
Off-site sterile processing facility – this project will move sterile processing off of the hospital campus to streamline operational efficiencies to support surgical services operations

Construction of these projects will run from now through 2026. As TGH updates and adds to the 25-acre campus, covering over 3 million square feet, Tampa General will also renovate the main lobby of the hospital's main campus, which will improve patient and visitor flow and efficiency.

The strategic master facility plan will have an estimated total economic impact of over $967 million for the Tampa Bay region and will create more than 5,952 total jobs.

The master facility plan launched in June with the opening of Tampa General's new Intensive Care Unit, a $17.5 million project that includes 34 state-of-the-art ICU rooms and approximately 27,500 square feet of space. All rooms are equipped to become negative air pressure rooms to care for infectious diseases patients. The unit also features new "patient rooms of the future," equipped with advanced care technologies.

These rooms allow caregivers to:

Increase efficiency for our physicians and nurses to serve up information they need to provide better patient care
Provide virtual care where patients can virtually connect with their family/loved ones, as well as physicians
Support emergency events that use technology in the rooms by automating code blue identification

With the addition of the new unit, Tampa General, one of the largest hospitals in the nation, now has 1,041 beds.

"The opening of this ICU is a major milestone in Tampa General's history as the first step of the master facility plan," said Phillip S. Dingle, chairman of the TGH Board of Directors. "This master facility plan is designed to benefit our team members, physicians, patients and our entire community. Tampa General is growing along with our community and creating jobs and making an economic impact for the region. It is our duty to make sure that we can continue to live our shared purpose – to care for everyone, every day. These investments allow us to do just that."

If you would like to learn more about Tampa General Hospital's master facility plan and growth in the next few years to come, please visit https://bit.ly/TGHMFPVideo.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 1,041-bed non-profit academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2021-22 Best Hospitals, and one of the top 4 hospitals in Florida, with five specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. The academic medical center's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious 2021 Forbes magazine rankings – America's Best Employers by State, third out of 100 Florida companies and first among health care and social organizations and 13^th nationally in America's Best Employers for Women. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal 2020 provided a net community benefit worth more than $182.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health and 19 outpatient Radiology Centers. Tampa Bay residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics, and they can even receive home visits in select areas through TGH Urgent Care at Home, powered by Fast Track. As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.