By Dan Hounsell, Senior Editor

Tampa General is launching the largest master facility plan in the hospital’s history to continue meeting the needs of the community and beyond for decades to come.

“Our vision at Tampa General is to become the safest and most innovative academic health system in America,” said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. “It is critical that we continue to bring the most advanced technology and cutting-edge care to our patients in Florida and beyond. This is the largest master facility plan expansion in our hospital’s history, and it is an investment in our patients, in our academic health system, and in our community. It’s a key part of our efforts to improve the lives and health of Floridians.”

Tampa General Hospital serves a dozen counties with a population of over 5million people and growing at a rapid rate of 1.4 percent each year. With this growth, Tampa General projects an increase of patient admissions of 0.9 percent by the end of the decade.

vTampa General is initiating this comprehensive master facility plan as part of its commitment to serving the Tampa Bay region’s increasing healthcare needs through its role as the area’s leading safety net hospital. In fiscal 2020, the academic medical center provided 34 percent of health charity care costs in Hillsborough and 17 percent across the Tampa Bay area.

For that same period, Tampa General provided a net community benefit worth more than $182.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. The strategic master facility plan will have an estimated total economic impact of more than $967 million for the Tampa Bay region and will create more than 5,952 total jobs.

Tampa General will add to both its geographic footprint and its vertical profile as it adds the following improvements and new structures:

New ICU. Now open, this project added 34 ICU rooms with upgraded and advanced care technologies.

Bayshore Pavilion vertical expansion. The project will add four floors to Tampa General’s Bayshore Pavilion above the Emergency Department, providing 12 new operating rooms and 100 new beds.

Regional Burn Center renovation and expansion. Now underway, this project will provide larger rooms, more efficient layouts and the new design will be complete in May 2022.

Renovate main operating room suite. The project will renovate operating rooms and modernize and upgrade equipment.

Freestanding emergency department. Located 1 mile from the hospital’s main campus on Kennedy Boulevard and North Willow Avenue, the 15,000-square-foot facility will provide additional ED capacity to serve community needs.

New corporate parking garage. An eight-story, 2,000-space parking garage will be built at the TGH Corporate Center off Kennedy Boulevard to consolidate off-site team member parking.

TGH Brandon Healthplex Oncology Institute. New clinic space will be added to provide multidisciplinary integrated oncology services: a hub for diagnostic testing, treatments, and support services.

Purchase of Hillsborough Community College Davis Islands building. This building, adjacent to the main hospital campus, will be outfitted for administrative, education and training space.

Central energy plant expansion. The project will expand power generation capabilities to provide 100 percent redundant protected power.

Off-site sterile processing facility. This project will move sterile processing off the hospital campus to streamline operational efficiencies to support surgical services operations.

Construction of these projects will run from now through 2026. As TGH updates and adds to the 25-acre campus, covering over 3 million square feet, Tampa General will also renovate the main lobby of the hospital’s main campus, which will improve patient and visitor flow and efficiency.