Doctors Hospital plans ER near Lakewood Ranch

Doctors Hospital of Sarasota plans to build a stand-alone emergency room near Lakewood Ranch. If approved for construction, it would join the ER at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center serving the 10,000-home master planned community and other, nearby East Manatee neighborhoods.

According to documents filed with Manatee County last week, Doctors Hospital plans to build a 10,820-square foot emergency department on an empty piece of land at the intersection of Ranch Lake Boulevard and State Road 70. The 1.2-acre site is part of the Ranch Lake Plaza retail center. It is adjacent to a Burger King restaurant.

The 155-patient bed Doctors Hospital, which was founded in 1967, already operates an emergency room at its campus near the intersection of Cattlemen Road and Bee Ridge Road. The planned ER at Ranch Lake Plaza would be the hospital’s only satellite location and its first foray into Manatee County.

Hospital officials did not respond Tuesday to requests to comment on the new emergency room.

Doctors Hospital is owned by Hospital Corporation of America, a company once headed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott. The company took a hit to its reputation in the late 1990s when federal investigators determined it had committed Medicare fraud. HCA paid out a $2 billion settlement in the case.

The new emergency room will share the Lakewood Ranch-area acute care market with the 120-bed Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. That hospital is owned by Manatee Memorial Hospital parent company United Health Services. It opened in 2004.

The planned freestanding ER follows a recent upgrade of emergency services at Doctors Hospital. The hospital recently renovated its emergency department. According to the hospital’s website, the facility now has an updated waiting area, a new ambulance canopy and 19 exam rooms.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Doctors Hospital plans ER near Lakewood Ranch."