It's this company's first venture into the Bradenton area. It's helping to fill a need in the community.

The gleaming new Doctors Hospital of Sarasota ER in Lakewood Ranch has been open for three weeks, and patient usage is more than hitting expectations, said Bob Meade, hospital CEO.

The 11,000-square-foot, $10 million free-standing emergency room facility, decorated with large-format images from the Manatee Technical College digital photography class, is Doctors Hospital's first venture into the Bradenton area.

"We have had about 28 patient visits a day as we ramp up our operation. That's pretty darn good," Meade said. "Our folks are very happy. We have a great staff here."

Doctors Hospital officials chose the ER location at 8500 State Road 70 E. for its proximity to much of the Bradenton-Sarasota area via Interstate 75.

"We were quite lucky to get this location. We had researched the area and the traffic patterns and historic ER visits over the past three years. We began construction a little over a year ago. We knew this was going to be a really high growth area and that we could serve the community very well here. We expected about 12,000 visits the first year. Actually we are tracking a little bit above that," Meade said.

The new facility offers 24/7 care for serious illnesses and injuries. The ER accepts patients via ambulance and has on-site CT scan, ultrasound, X-ray and laboratory service.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to serve this community as well as Sarasota with the same quality of care as at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota," said Martina Giquinto, the ER director for the Sarasota and East Manatee emergency rooms.

"We have been getting daily traffic from EMS (emergency medial services)," Giquinto said.

Medical treatment facilities are chosen by EMS based on patient preference, distance and wait times at area ERs.

Cheri Morris, who lives in East Manatee and has children in local schools, serves as ER manager.

"She absolutely shines and proves herself time and again," Giquinto said of Morris.

In addition to its financial investment in the area, Doctors Hospital has created 40 new jobs to staff the ER.

Being that the new ER is still ramping up its operation, wait times are often non-existent.

"We see them within 5 minutes. No waiting," ER physician Dr. Daphnee Moise said.

A free-standing emergency room differs significantly from an urgent care facility, Meade said.

"If you imagine an emergency room attached to a hospital. It's essentially just picked up from the hospital and placed in a location where we need an emergency room in a community. We have full service — everything you would find in a hospital ER. We have a CT scanner, we have a lab, we have a pharmacy. We have everything that you need in a community right here in this location," Meade said.

For more information, call 941-242-6532 or visit ERlakewoodranch.com.

This story was originally published April 18, 2018 at 2:54 PM with the headline "It's this company's first venture into the Bradenton area. It's helping to fill a need in the community.."