SMH Breaks Ground on New Hospital in Venice

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System marked an important milestone Thursday, breaking ground on its new hospital and 65-acre medical campus in Venice. City officials, community leaders, the elected hospital board, SMH staff, area residents and the new hospital’s design/build team were on hand to celebrate the most significant expansion in the health system’s 94-year history.

“This is truly a landmark occasion,” Sarasota County Public Hospital Board Chairman Joseph DeVirgilio said during welcoming remarks. “The Hospital Board has had a longstanding goal of bringing Sarasota Memorial’s high level of care to the south county region. It’s been a long journey, but today is a major step forward in our efforts to ensure that our growing community has convenient access to our five-star medical services.”

The ceremony took place under a tent set up beside the partially cleared site where the new four-story, 350,000-square-foot hospital will be built on the corner of Laurel and Pinebrook roads near Interstate-75. 

David Verinder, CEO of Sarasota Memorial, recognized the collaborative efforts of city planners and leaders, residents, and a dedicated team of designers, engineers, project managers, administrators, clinicians and staff who have been involved in countless workshops and meetings to help design a state-of-the-art hospital. 

“Right now, we are surrounded by empty land and equipment. But I’d like you to envision a beautiful medical campus with a state-of-the-art, full-service hospital right here where we’re standing,” Verinder said. “Most importantly, the new hospital will have the specialists and advanced technology to provide immediate, lifesaving care to residents here, whether they’re suffering from a heart attack or stroke, or if they need specialized care for orthopedic injuries or other illnesses.” 

Initially, it will open with 110 private rooms (90 acute-care beds and 20 beds for observation patients), a 28-room Emergency Care Center and eight surgical suites. The all-private suites will include a 10-bed Labor & Delivery/Post-Partum suites, where women can deliver and room with their babies throughout their recovery. 

The facility also will have eight surgical suites, with a dedicated operating room for emergency and scheduled obstetrical procedures.

The hospital, which will be hurricane hardened with a seamless connection to SMH’s electronic medical records and information technology, will offer a full array of medical and surgical care, including: Cardiology Unit/Catheterization Lab; Critical Care/Intensive Care Unit; Emergency Care; Endoscopy & other procedural areas; Gastroenterology; Labor & Delivery/Post-Partum Unit; Laboratory/Diagnostic Testing; Nephrology; Neurology/Neurosurgery; Oncology; Orthopedics; Pulmonology; Imaging/Radiology; Urology and more. 

Sharon Roush, president of the Venice campus, said the hospital is designed to be flexible and expandable. The campus has the capacity to expand to 270 patient rooms, 16 ORs and a 50-bed Emergency Room to accommodate future growth. 

She also highlighted the economic benefits to south county. SMH expects to open the hospital with about 700 staff members to start. The campus also will bring SMH’s extensive physician base farther south, which in turn will help build the medical staff for a future hospital in North Port.

“This is just the beginning,” Roush said. “We are excited about our plans to transform health care in south county.”