Wolfson Children’s Hospital
UF Health St. Johns recently broke ground for a health and wellness campus at Durbin Park, part of its parent hospital system’s $1 billion regional expansion plan.
The first phase of the 42.5-acre UF Health St. Johns Durbin Park will include a full-service 150-bed hospital with a focus on orthopaedics, neurosurgery, cardiovascular medicine and women’s services. Also planned are a multidisciplinary medical office building and an ambulatory surgery center, according to the UF Health St. Johns, part of the UF Health system.
The project is expected to bring 2,000 new jobs to the area and open by late 2025.
“The University of Florida has a bold vision for Northeast Florida,” said Mori Hosseini, chairman of the UF Board of Trustees. “We deliver incredible results for Floridians. That’s exactly what we are going to do for St. Johns and the Jacksonville community.”
The 395,000-square-foot Durbin Park hospital will include acute, intensive and emergency care; operating rooms; and an imaging suite and hybrid labs for interventional procedures, according to UF Health St. Johns. The ambulatory surgery center will focus on orthopedics and other surgical services, with operating and procedural rooms, office space and rehabilitation facilities.
“This is a region on the rise and we are proud to match our exceptional expertise with the needs of the community to revolutionize health services for the citizens of Florida,” UF President Ben Sasse said. “The work that we do here is going to save lives.”
The Durbin Park groundbreaking is just one of the recent news items to highlight Northeast Florida’s expanding health care industry. Here are some more:
Wolfson Children’s Hospital recently opened a $9.5 million 20-bed unit for children and adolescents needing inpatient behavioral health care.
The Behavioral Health and Wellness Unit doubled the number of beds available at Wolfson, helping reduce wait times by 50%. Only 66 beds are available between Jacksonville and Orlando, which do not meet the “growing need,” said Michael Mayo, president and CEO of Baptist Health, which includes Wolfson.
“Many may not be aware of the scarcity of hospital beds for children and teens who have a critical need for mental and behavioral health care,” he said.
The additional 20 beds join Wolfson’s 14-bed Larry J. Freeman Behavioral Health Unit and an eight-bed “behavioral health pod” in Wolfson’s emergency center. The new unit “will not only help save lives but … serve as a safe and comforting space for our patients as they receive the care they need,” Wolfson President Allegra Jaros said.
The unit was largely funded by $5 million from the Legislature and $3 million from The Players Championship Village Inc., a charity arm of The Players golf championship. The nonprofit Village provides drug and alcohol treatment recovery for youth aged 13 to 17 who could not afford treatment through for-profit facilities.
with special flood, mudflow, or flood-related erosion hazards. These areas include the following flood zones: A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, AH, AR, AR/A, AR/AE, AR/AH, AR/AO, AR/A1-A30, V1-V30, VE, or V.
These areas require the enforcement of the National Flood Insurance Program's floodplain management regulations and may require the purchase of flood insurance.
Is flood insurance in Florida mandatory?
Flood insurance isn't mandated in Florida, though federally-backed mortgage companies typically require it.
How to check if your home is in a flood zone?
You can quickly check if your home is inside an SFHA by heading over to FEMA's Map Service Center. Once there, enter your home's address in the search bar. You'll be taken to a new page with an interactive map and a legend indicating the flood zones.
Why is Citizens starting to require flood insurance?
Citizens' new flood insurance requirements stem from a reform package created with the hopes to help stabilize Florida's volatile insurance market. The new requirements only apply to policyholders who have a Personal Lines residential policy.