Frequently Asked Questions
| How will the new North Tower project benefit the community? more |
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| What services will be enhanced with the North Tower project? more |
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| Why is Halifax Health Medical Center increasing the size of its Emergency Department? more |
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| How long will Phase One of the 10-year master facility plan take to complete? more |
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| What services will be moved into the new 10-story inpatient North Tower? more |
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| What will happen to the existing 10-story inpatient East Tower? more |
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| What is the estimated cost of the project? more |
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| Will this raise healthcare costs? more |
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| Will this raise taxes? more |
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| What can patients and visitors expect in the short term? In the long term? more |
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| What is the age of the current campus buildings? more |
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| Have we purchased any other land around the current campus? more |
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| Did we use eminent domain to acquire any of the properties? more |
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| Was certificate of need approval required for this project? more |
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| What will be built on the Williamson Boulevard (south of LPGA Boulevard) property? more |
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| Does this project preclude us from any additional action? more |
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| How is Halifax Health structured? more |
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| How many licensed beds will we have when the new tower opens? more |
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| What effect do you see on the health care dollar with Halifax spending $200 million on new facilities and Florida Hospital-Ormond Memorial spending even more on theirs? more |
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| What is happening with the Halifax Professional Center building? more |
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| How much will the valet parking cost patients and visitors? more |
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| People get lost at Halifax Health Medical Center’s main campus. They ask “What building am I in”? more |
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| Will there be a walking trail around the campus? more |
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| Will the new helipad footprint be the same size or larger than the existing one? more |
How will the new North Tower project benefit the community?
Halifax Health Medical Center’s North Tower expansion project will enhance the overall patient experience, expand our capabilities and provide the capacity we need to support long-term population growth in a financially viable way. This is the biggest project Halifax Health Medical Center has undertaken in its nearly 80-year history.
What services will be enhanced with the North Tower project?
Halifax Medical Center’s new 10-story inpatient North Tower will add 180 beds and approximately 500,000 square feet to our existing campus. The new inpatient tower will be located northwest of the current Emergency Department and will feature all private patient rooms and increased family space including a family resource area. The new Emergency Department will be four times larger than its current size. The location of the new tower takes advantage of all our central and ancillary services, such as imaging, laboratory and surgery.
Why is Halifax Medical Center increasing the size of its Emergency Department?
Halifax Medical Center’s Emergency Department is the fourth busiest in the state of Florida. While extremely efficient, it is undersized for the existing volume, which was over 100,000 visits in 2006. The additional square footage will provide increased privacy and capacity, and improve Halifax’s ability to support fluctuating patient volumes.
The new Emergency Department will increase from 21,000 square feet to 89,000 square feet and have more than double the number of treatment rooms. Of the 107 new treatment rooms, 96 will be modular in design to meet patient demand and needs. Eight rooms will be dedicated to psychiatric care and three will be designated as trauma resuscitation rooms with the ability to be converted into six trauma resuscitation rooms. A Rapid Admission Unit and Chest Pain Center will also be included in the new facility.
How long will Phase One of the 10-year master facility plan take to complete?
The construction of the new inpatient North Tower and Emergency Department is expected to be complete in 2009.
What services will be moved into the new 10-story inpatient North Tower?
At this time, we intend to move some medical, surgical and critical care services to the new tower, but the specifics have not yet been finalized.
What will happen to the existing 10-story inpatient East Tower?
Once the North Tower is completed, we will begin renovating the East Tower and that facility will gradually be converted to all private rooms, floor by floor.
What is the estimated cost of the project?
Expected cost is approximately $200 million.
Will this raise healthcare costs?
No, this will not raise healthcare costs.
Will this raise taxes?
No, it is not anticipated that this project will raise taxes. We have a financing plan in process.
What can patients and visitors expect in the short term? In the long term?
There will be some parking relocation when the existing Halifax Professional Center parking garage is demolished to make way for the new North Tower. We have set up valet parking and offsite employee parking to limit patient and visitor inconvenience. In the long-term, the public will find an enhanced patient and family-friendly environment and improved traffic flow around the campus.
What are the ages of the current campus buildings?
We have a variety of buildings across our campus that were constructed after the hospital opened in 1928, the greatest percentage of which were built in the 1970s and 1980s. The existing landmark 1928 building will remain as it is. We are evaluating all other buildings and determining which ones are candidates for replacement or renovation so we can carefully plan our service needs for the future.
Have we purchased any other land around the current campus?
We have purchased land – including 42 lots north of the campus – to replace the parking that has been lost due to construction.
Did we use eminent domain to acquire any of the properties?
No, we did not use eminent domain to acquire any of the properties.
Was certificate of need approval required for this project?
We are not required to have certificate of need approval for this project, as we are not relocating any services more than one mile from our existing facilities.
What will be built on the Williamson Boulevard (south of LPGA Boulevard) property?
Construction of a proposed administrative services building on the new property will begin in the future. The proposed building is scheduled to house our patient business financial services. The Williamson Boulevard (south of LPGA Boulevard) property was purchased to support the healthcare needs of the community over the next fifty years. As our population ages, we know the need for additional healthcare services will not decrease so we will continue to evaluate that property for the future.
Does this project preclude us from any additional action?
No. It enhances and supports our ability to meet the needs of the outlying market areas, and gives us the greatest flexibility to meet population growth over the long term.
How is Halifax Health structured?
We employ a “hub and spoke” model, with our tertiary facility located on North Clyde Morris Boulevard in Daytona Beach, and smaller community facilities and services supporting residents where the geography and the need dictates local delivery, such as the new 80-bed Halifax Health Center Port Orange, a community hospital that opened in December 2006, providing healthcare to residents in the southern portion of our service area.
How many licensed beds will we have when the new tower opens?
Halifax Health will have 944 licensed beds when the new tower opens.
What effect do you see on the health care dollar with Halifax spending $200 million on new facilities and Florida Hospital-Ormond Memorial spending even more on theirs?
Both facilities needed upgrading – without private rooms neither are meeting patient or insurer expectations.
What is happening with the Halifax Professional Center building?
It is unaffected by the new tower construction, but a number of services, including advanced physician services such as Endocrinology, Neurology and Neurosciences have experienced growth and expansion in the building.
How much will the valet parking cost patients and visitors?
This service is free to patients and visitors at both hospitals.
People get lost at Halifax Medical Center’s main campus. They ask “What building am I in?"
This will be addressed by the new wayfinding system. The naming of parking areas, lobbies, elevators and rooms will be developed as part of that system.
Will there be a walking trail around the campus?
There is a walking trail slated to be located around the retention pond.
Will the new helipad footprint be the same size or larger than the existing one?
The current helipad is 75 x 75, and the new one will be 50 x 75, but will still have adequate space for two helicopters.