Groundbreaking on major expansion of Jackson Memorial Hospital's emergency department
MIAMI - The largest emergency department expansion in the country is happening right here in Miami.
Jackson Memorial Hospital broke ground on the $300 million renovation Tuesday morning.
Carlos Migoya, the CEO of Jackson Memorial Hospital, said this has been a long time coming.
"This emergency room was built in 1978," Migoya said. "Shortly thereafter, it already got full."
The new ER at Jackson Memorial Hospital is going to be four times the size of the current emergency department.
"By doing what we're doing today provides us not just the room that we need for today, but it provides us a room for the next 10 years as we continue to expect the growth that we're seeing here," said Migoya. "We think that we're going to continue to see growth in this community."
The expansion includes more than 200 patient rooms, 50 observation rooms, 30 pediatric rooms, and 6 resuscitation rooms. They said this will help reduce wait times and allow the ER team to triage patients faster.
"We are the safety net hospital for South Florida," said Migoya. "We are making sure that we provide the best quality of care for all people regardless of their ability to pay."
So where is the money coming from for the expansion? Operating dollars, tax dollars, and donations.
"We not only rely on the county support as a public health hospital, but on philanthropic dollars from very generous donors in our community who understand the significance and the importance of bringing an emergency room of this kind to this community," Jackson Health Foundation CEO Flavia Llizo said.
The ER currently sees roughly 100,000 patients a year and is expected to reach 170 thousand a year by 2036. The first phase of the expansion should be done by fall 2025, with pediatrics to be completed in 2026.