St. Anthony's Hospital to build $152 million 90-bed patient tower

ST. PETERSBURG — St. Anthony's Hospital is about to undergo a $152 million renovation, which will significantly expand the number of patient beds and services the St. Petersburg hospital has to offer.

The hospital, which is owned by Tampa Bay-based BayCare,will add a new 90-bed patient tower featuring all private rooms. The expansion will also relocate several hospital services, including cardiology, inpatient dialysis, pre-admission testing for surgical patients, new educational classrooms, a new electrical plant and an expanded loading dock. The hospital's cafeteria and kitchen will be moved to the first floor for better access to visitors, according to a news release.

The most significant change is the addition of 90 new patient beds, expanding St. Anthony's Hospital's patient capacity to 448 beds. By comparison, Bayfront Health St. Petersburg — the only other hospital in the city — has 480 beds. Overall, the new four-story patient tower located on the west end of the hospital campus will create an additional 143,000 square feet of space.

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St. Anthony's is expanding to meet the growing needs of the community and offer new amenities for patients, said Scott Smith, president of the hospital.

"We've been blessed with strong volumes at the hospital, and growing volumes year over year," Smith said.

The growth around St. Petersburg, including a boom of new apartment and condominium towers under construction, is part of that growth trajectory, he said. The patient tower is the peak improvement of a long-term strategic master plan, Smith said. The first phase of that master plan is wrapping up now, with the expansion of the hospital's operating rooms and endoscopy department. The tower is the second phase of that overall master plan.

"It was a combination of looking at what our historical growth patterns have been to what our bed demand is today, and projecting that forward into the future," Smith said. "We anticipate dramatic growth."

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Construction is expected to begin early next year and be completed by 2022.

St. Anthony's Hospital was opened by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany of New York in 1931. Today the hospital is known for its care in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, vascular services, neurology and behaviorial health. It's part of a network of 15 hospitals owned by BayCare in the Tampa Bay and surrounding areas. St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, which is also part of the BayCare network, is wrapping up a $126 million expansion this year.