OCALA, FL (352today.com) – On Friday, Sept. 29, HCA Florida held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new emergency room on Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala. On Saturday, it will open for patients.
The brand-new, 11,000-square-foot, $11 million HCA Florida Silver Springs Emergency facility is a free-standing ER modeled much like others around town, complete with 11 patient rooms and a trauma room. According to CEO Alan Keesee, the HCA Florida Ocala ER model is consistently ranked in the 90th percentile nationally for patient experience.
The ER on Silver Springs Boulevard is unique, though: it’s the first of its kind on the east side of Ocala. While a lot of growth is happening on the west end of Ocala, Marion County Commission Chairman Craig Curry emphasized the importance of providing healthcare to this side of town, too.
“Florida is getting about 1,000 a day in terms of new residents,” said Curry. “Marion County is getting around 220 a week.”
Curry added that access to healthcare close to home is one of the main things people consider when deciding to move their family or business to a new place, and a new ER on the east side of Ocala might encourage more expansion in the area.
He went on to say the new ER is projected to treat upwards of 10,000 people annually, all while offering the same treatments available in other parts of town.
The ER will also provide jobs to the Silver Springs area – 45 of them, according to Jess Schultz with the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership (CEP).
The “neighborhood block party” that followed the ribbon-cutting was complete with Big Lee’s Barbecue, complimentary Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, information booths from community partners, a petting zoo and even an “emergency vehicle petting zoo,” where guests got to take a peek inside the facility’s ambulances.
The new ER, located at 3471 E Silver Springs Blvd. right next to the Ocala Mall, will open tomorrow, Sept. 30 at 7 a.m. and will remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
