To meet the needs of the fastest- growing county in Florida, Florida Hospital Flagler commissioned an ambulatory care center and hospital as part of a new, technologically advanced medical campus. Initial plans focused on building a multifloor ambulatory care center, supported by wellness and cancer centers. An 81-bed acute care facility was originally scheduled to be built as Phase II.

During final design stages for the ambulatory care center, plans changed and the acute care facility was added alongside the ambulatory building. The overlapping design provided an opportunity to simultaneously solve issues of inpatient and outpatient staffing and patient processing. The challenge was to design the ambulatory center to easily interface with the hospital’s acute needs, sharing diagnostic and surgical services without duplication of services. The ambulatory setting was successfully designed to meet the building and state health codes for the acute setting without having a serious impact on the initial cost of the ambulatory project.

The hospital’s design reinforces its message of stability and comfort in a healing environment. Designed to expand with community needs, the universal patient care rooms, in particular, are designed for flexibility and adaptability. The diagnostic core, treatment rooms, and support spaces were designed to accommodate 80 additional beds and to respond to future technologic advancements and equipment needs.

Project category: New construction (completed September 2002)

Chief administrator: Daryl Tol, Administrator, (386) 586-2000

Firms: Gresham, Smith and Partners, (615) 770-8100; The Robins & Morton Group (Construction Manager), (205) 870-1000

Design team: Joe Thompson, AIA, Senior Healthcare Principal; Matthew Kunnath, AIA, Project Manager; Tanya Miller, IIDA, Interior Designer; Steve Klein, AIA, Planner/Designer (Gresham, Smith and Partners); Robin Savage, CEO (The Robins & Morton Group)

Photography: © Joseph Lapeyra 2003

Total building area (GSF): 294,958

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $157

Total cost (excluding land): $46,302,684