Florida Hospital Waterman Expanding To Meet Community Healthcare Needs
 

Tavares, FL:  Florida Hospital Waterman has been under construction over the past few months to expand its 209-bed facility by adding more beds.

Space on the sixth floor that was shelled in when the hospital was going up is being built out. The hospital will add 60 beds once construction is completed in a few weeks, said Kenneth R. Mattison, Waterman president and CEO.

"We wanted to tie this expansion to the high season," he said.

The hospital now has 209 beds. The state requires hospitals to consistently be at or above 80 percent occupancy before they can add beds, Mattison said. Waterman has exceeded those numbers for the past two years, he added. Much of that is caused by the influx of winter residents who seek medical care at the hospital.

"We've had days where we've had full capacity," he said. "The additional beds allow us to continue to grow as the needs of the community grow."

Orthopedic patients are expected to be moved to the sixth floor starting Nov. 12. The expansion also will provide enough room for a four-bed inpatient dialysis unit, said Carrie Fish, hospital Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer who is overseeing the $13.2 million nine month project.

Mattison said physicians, technicians and nurses provided their comments on the floor's design — "it's the staff that attends to the needs of the patients."

The hospital will host a special open house celebrating the expansion on Thursday, November 8, from 4:30pm-6:30pm.  Event will also introduce the new technology of “Rio” an innovative new robot designed to assist surgeons during knee resurfacing operations, a minimally invasive type of surgery useful for younger, active patients with early osteoarthritis.

Open to the public, light refreshments provided. For more information and to RSVP, please call 352-253-3388.