Is there room for two new hospitals on this Manatee County road? What to know about it
The last time a new hospital opened in Manatee County was Sept. 1, 2004, when Lakewood Ranch Medical Center welcomed its first patients. It was a time when a community was growing so fast that land once worked by cowboys and farmers was transforming before our eyes with dizzying speed.
It’s that time again in today’s Parrish, where competing interests are planning two hospitals on Moccasin Wallow Road, still largely a two-lane country road.
BayCare Health System announced last week that it is planning to open Manatee County’s first hospital north of the Manatee River by the end of 2025. The hospital would be on the northeast corner of Moccasin Wallow Road and Interstate 75.
The announcement caught many by surprise, perhaps even the healthcare company that had already won county approval to build a hospital down the road at North River Ranch.
North River Ranch hospital
In May, Manatee County commissioners approved plans to build a six-story, 150-bed hospital, assisted living facilities and 125,000 square feet of medical offices at North River Ranch. The developer of North River Ranch sought and got the approvals for the hospital. The healthcare company that would build and operate the proposed hospital has not been identified
North River Ranch is the largest of the Parrish master planned communities and is forecast to eventually have a population of 28,000.
Asked whether the Parrish and North River area could support two hospitals on Moccasin Wallow Road, John Neal, president of Neal Land & Neighborhoods, developer of North River Ranch, said this week that there is a need for more healthcare in the Parrish area.
“I am proud of our group for spending the time to learn what the healthcare needs of the community are,” Neal said.
“Generally, I would say that the BayCare site has yet to be approved. The North River Ranch Hospital and health campus is a full go. I appreciate the time and investment our group has made to better understand the health needs of the community. The result will be a better integrated and community oriented hospital,” Neal said.
BayCare hospital
BayCare, which operates 15 hospitals in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, is working to obtain zoning approvals as it finalizes construction details for what would be its first hospital in Manatee County.
The company’s building permit application requests up to 207 private patient rooms, but the initial construction likely will have a smaller bed count. BayCare also plans to build an adult primary care practice in The Shoppes of Moccasin Wallow.
BayCare has not announced hospital size, construction costs, employment opportunities or timelines.
“We are working closely with the county to be sure the new BayCare Hospital in Manatee County meets all local requirements and expect to have that work wrapped up by the end of this year,” Lisa Razler, public relations manager for BayCare System, said in an email to the Bradenton Herald.
She said the new hospital will include emergency and surgical services as well as connection to BayCare’s network of services across West-Central Florida. The health system offers telehealth, behavioral health and pediatric services.
“This area has grown and developed to the point where residents want healthcare closer to home,” Razier said.
“BayCare’s approach is always one of sustainability. We initially will build to the community’s current and near-term need, with facilities and infrastructure designed so the hospital can grow as north Manatee’s population grows. BayCare is proud to bring the first not-for-profit hospital to this community, and we are not aware of any other health system committed to serving this area.”
The future of two hospitals
Whether two hospitals will eventually be built on Moccasin Wallow Road is unknown, but the pace of development seems to be moving far faster than the buildup to Lakewood Ranch Medical Center the better part of two decades ago.
When Lakewood Ranch Medical Center opened in 2004, Mary Fran Carroll, former chief executive officer of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, the developer of Lakewood Ranch, recalled the first time she took Manatee Memorial Hospital officials to the land set aside for a hospital.
That tour was back in 1994, and instead of a town and rooftops, there were two ruts in the midst of a vast stretch of farmland. The hospital representatives, who were considering transferring 120 hospital beds to Lakewood Ranch, wanted assurances that it would one day be a community and not a working ranch.
“One day, we promise you, there will be rooftops out here,” Carroll told them.
The developers of Lakewood Ranch kept their promise.
Today, Lakewood Ranch has an estimated 57,000 residents and is the top-selling multi-generational community in the nation with 1,026 home sales this year alone.
Hospitals in Manatee
Manatee County is now served by Manatee Memorial Hospital and and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, owned and operated owned by King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS), and HCA Florida Blake Hospital, owned and operated by Nashville-based HCA Healthcare.
This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 1:09 PM.
