Lakewood Ranch Medical Center expansion is complete. Here are the new services available

The public will get a rare opportunity to see what $28.5 million of some of the latest medical technology and 28,000 square feet of new healing space looks like when Lakewood Ranch Medical Center holds a grand opening celebration July 11.

Announced in February 2018, the expansion is the largest in the history of the hospital, which opened in 2004 in the midst of one of the most active hurricane seasons in years.

More than 17,000 square feet of space were added to the hospital. One wing of the hospital, which had sat as an empty shell since the facility opened, was also completed.

At the heart of the expansion is an 8,010-square-foot surgical suite with two brightly lit operating rooms. The room is equipped with disinfecting lighting designed to kill harmful bacteria.

The first surgery in the new suite was in April, said Pamela Coil, charge nurse for the operating room.

Expanding the operating room gives more access for patients and surgeons, and also offers the opportunity to expand new service lines, chief operating officer Joseph Hwang said.

“As a result of the expansion project, we have been able to start up a robotic surgery program which allows us to perform minimally invasive surgery so that patients can heal quicker and be discharged and go home a lot faster than with traditional surgery,” Hwang said.

Also new is the addition of a second cardiac catherization lab and a new service: electrophysiology.

“What this does in layman’s terms is perform studies for abnormal rhythms of the heart. This was a service line that we had not previously offered here at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, and that we had to transfer out,” Hwang said.

“The exciting thing for us is not only can we offer new service lines but we can also ensure that patients no longer have to get transferred out of the community. They can get the care that they need here locally.”

Other new technology offered with the expansion includes an 80-slice, low-dose CT scanner that allows for faster scanning, a new MRI suite with prostate imaging, cardiac MRI/MRA and breast cancer capabilities. Scans are 50 percent faster with 60 percent higher resolution.

An MRA, or magnetic resonance angiogram, uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to provide pictures of blood vessels.

Included in the expansion was the relocation of the breast health center to accommodate an additional 3-D mammography machine and more patients.

“We’ve added another mammography unit, our 3-D mammo. We have bone density ultrasound here. We do 3-D breast biopsy here in an outpatient setting. We have updated all of our waiting rooms and everything else for patient comfort,” mammography supervisor Tracy Legutko said.

More expansion of Lakewood Ranch Medical Center is planned for the future, hospital CEO Andy Guz said in 2018. What those expansion plans are remain undisclosed.

“We have a master facility plan in order to accommodate this growth because we knew it was coming,” Guz said in 2018. “We’ve been working on this plan for the better part of two years, so this is just the first phase.”

Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center are both owned by a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS).

The reception for the grand opening of the new Lakewood Ranch facilities is set for 5 p.m. July 11 in the main lobby, marketing director Kristina Sparacino said.

Opening remarks are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. by Guz, Manatee Memorial Hospital CEO Kevin DiLallo, and Dr. Robert Hillstrom, chairman of the board of governors.

The ribbon cutting is planned for 6 p.m. with tours of the operating rooms, cath lab/MRI and overall expansion planned starting at 6:10 p.m. RSVP requested by June 27 to marketing@lwrmc.com or 941-782-2128 or at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lakewood-ranch-medical-center-expansion-project-grand-opening-celebration-registration-62573312462?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing

This story was originally published June 25, 2019 at 4:17 PM.