NORTH PORT, Fla. — Sarasota Memorial Hospital plans to more than double the amount of bed space in North Port's first hospital as it looks to keep up with growth, while keeping future construction costs down.
Watch FOX 4's Hunter Walterman go one-on-one with the new president of SMH North Port:
The SMH board voted to add three additional floors of shell space to the planned hospital off Sumter Boulevard near the I-75 interchange. That increases the size of hospital from six floors to nine floors, and more than doubling the number of inpatient beds from 100 to 208.
But, the floors won't be used right away. Instead, they will sit empty in anticipation of future growth. The idea is to make expansion easier in the future, according to Jeff Wesner, SMH North Port's president.
"We do expect to expand quickly," Wesner said. "And this allows us the best position to be able to do that, without having to bring cranes back out and be building on top an operating hospital."
The shell space could also help SMH save money on future construction costs, said Steve Cona, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors Gulf Coast Florida Chapter.
"It's definitely a trend in our industry," Cona said.
North Port Police included shell space in plans for a new headquarters, Deputy Chief Chris Morales previously told FOX 4. North Port is one of the fastest growing communities in the country, and city leaders are trying to keep up.
WATCH: 'Totally out of room:' North Port weighs new direction on police headquarters
SMH opened a freestanding emergency room off Toledo Blade Boulevard in 2009. At the time, SMH didn't think North Port was ready for a full-scale hospital, Wesner said. But recent growth changed that.
Shortly after SMH opened its Venice campus in 2021, the hospital rached capacity, Wesner said. The planned shell space will help SMH expand quickly if the same thing happens in North Port.
The North Port hospital will have an attached medical office building. The SMH board voted to add an additional floor of shell space to the office as well, bringing it to three stories. The additional floors will cost $57 million, according to a hospital news release, bringing the total cost of the project to $507 million.
SMH leaders say the North Port hospital could expand even more in the future.
"We also have master planned really to be a 400 bed hospital," Wesner said. "With the additional towers that will be added down there."
The hospital is also evaluating plans for a Wellen Park location. Right now, it's unclear exactly what that would look like. SMH has designs for a full-scale hospital, Wesner said, but it may ultimately be a smaller facility.
The North Port hospital is expected to open in late 2028, Wesner said.
