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ST. PETERSBURG — St. Anthony's Hospital is nearing the midpoint on an expansion that includes a pair of construction projects that will add about 140,000 square feet to its campus.
Workers are putting the finishing touches on a new $50 million emergency department building scheduled to open next month. It will triple the size of the current one and feature more private rooms, the latest technology and a large waiting area with Wi-Fi access.
At the same time, work is just beginning on a $30 million three-story building that will be the new home of Suncoast Medical Clinic, the physician group that BayCare — the large nonprofit system to which St. Anthony's belongs — purchased this year. The project will also include an 800-space parking garage.
"It's pretty exciting," said William Ulbricht, president of St. Anthony's.
The projects, however, have drawn the ire of some nearby residents, who have complained about noise, damage to their cars and the loss of available parking during construction. One resident, Jonathan Dye, appealed a development review board's approval of the project, but the City Council rejected the appeal last week.
"The hospital has a business to run, I get that," Dye said recently. "But while they get to go home at 5, I'm stuck with this seven days a week, 24 hours a day."
Ulbricht said it's a challenge that comes with any construction project. "But we have been cognizant of our neighbors," he said.
He said St. Anthony's has senior management people on neighborhood association boards. He said people with complaints are given the phone number of someone in St. Anthony's administration who will help resolve the issue.
"We don't want to be known as the neighbor that's not being nice," Ulbricht said. "We've been here 80 years. This is our home."
And in the end, he believes the benefits to the community far outweigh any inconveniences the construction might cause.
He said the current emergency room could no longer meet the hospital's growing needs. More than 34,000 patients visited St. Anthony's emergency room in 2010, which was a 3 to 4 percent increase over the year before.
The current ER has 18 to 20 beds separated by curtains, and four private rooms. The new one will have 32 private exam rooms and two critical care cardiac exam rooms, among other features.
Ulbricht said about 65 to 70 percent of patients that get admitted to the hospital come through the emergency room.
Meanwhile, site work has begun on the future home of Suncoast Medical Clinic and an adjacent parking garage. Expected to be completed next December, it will house about 30 to 35 Suncoast physicians, including primary care and various specialties. It will include a lab and outpatient imaging center, as well as a coffee bar.
Suncoast currently occupies 110,000 square feet of space on the nearby campus of Bayfront Medical Center. Bayfront has plans for the space after Suncoast departs, but officials would not disclose what those plans are.
Marie Cirelli, a Bayfront spokesperson, expects the St. Anthony's expansion to have a minimal impact on Bayfront.
Reach Richard Martin at rmartin@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3322.
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