ASCENSION HEALTH
The 466-bed Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla., plans to add a five-story tower to its campus by 2016. The hospital will begin the $57 million construction project in spring 2012.
The inpatient floors will be added atop Sacred Heart's Heart and Vascular Institute.
According to Sacred Heart leaders, the expansion is needed because of population growth in northwest Florida and because of baby boomers' increasing demand for health care services. Also, as a regional trauma center and stroke center, the facility needs more capacity to treat critically ill patients.
The project will enable Sacred Heart to offer more private rooms and to improve upon the hospital's trauma, stroke, oncology and neuroscience services.
Next year, the facility plans to kick off a $5 million capital campaign to support the construction.
Laura Kaiser is Sacred Heart's president and chief executive. She said the expansion will help the facility, which is the largest charity care provider in the region, to better serve people in need. Sacred Heart, she said, "is located in one of the poorest counties in Florida, and the community continues to have great needs for Sacred Heart's mission of providing health care to all, regardless of their ability to pay."
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