Sacred Heart Health System President/CEO Laura Kaiser made the announcement today that they would be building a 112-bed facility on their Pensacola campus for adult patients. Forty of the beds will be for intensive care patients.
The five floors will be added to the Sacred Heart Heart & Vascular Institute over the next four years. Greenhut Construction has been awarded the contract and is expected to break ground next spring.
“We are literally bursting at the seams, ” said Kaiser. “We see this expansion has having a positive impact on the local economy. It will add jobs and expand our access to those who need us.”
I asked Kaiser if the expansion is signal that Sacred Heart is moving away from its focus on women and children and if this construction will delay the construction of a children’s hospital:
“We are still very committed to women and children,” said Kaiser, who pointed that they have recently hired Dana Bledsoe as the president of the Sacred Heart Women and Children’s Hospital. “We are working with Nemours to master plan our facility and optimize the services we offer.
Carol Schmidt, Chief Operating Officer of SHHS and President of Sacred Heart Hospital added that they are in the strategic planning process now and is great growth opportunities in children services.
Kaiser was clearly excited about the project and emphasized. “Healthcare is basic infrastructure for the community.”
To echo that sentiment, Mayor Ashton Hayward and the board of the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce were on hand to hear the announcement. Mayor Hayward thanked Sacred Heart for its investment in Pensacola and offered his support.