Inside the new $20M ED expansion at AdventHealth’s North Pinellas hospital

The AdventHealth North Pinellas Hospital has completed its $20 million emergency department expansion that will create better access for patients and more rooms. 

The lobby inside the ED of the North Pinellas campus. Veronica Brezina.

The Tarpon Springs hospital at 1395 S. Pinellas Ave. will start accepting patients in the new ED starting on Aug. 31.

The hospital broke ground in 2019 for the new, expanded emergency department that creates 18 private rooms, 5 more than the previous non-private 13 rooms.  The size difference is noticeable at nearly triple the square footage of the 10,000-square-foot ED it’s replacing.  There is enough shell space to add three more rooms. 

Themes of cool teal and ocean scenes are  carried throughout the lobby and patient rooms. The selected color scheme was a purposeful effort to create a sense of calmness and reduce anxiety. It’s a trend that more hospitals in the Tampa Bay area are embracing. 

A room for pediatric patients. Veronica Brezina.

There are also features that were designed with the patient’s perspective in mind. 

The hallway in the new ED. Veronica Brezina.

Imagine lying on a stretcher and having to stare straight up into blinding lights, this ED has moved the lights to the side of the hall, hospital execs told the St. Pete Catalyst while giving a one-on-one inside tour. 

Another noteworthy improvement was removing the slope at the entrance that was sometimes proved difficult for patients and EMS drivers to navigate. 

The elevation of the old ED would meet the top of the canopy of the new building. 

“This is a major enhancement for EMS, they have their own entrance now,” said hospital CEO and President Jason Dunkel. The new entrance can accommodate up to six EMS vehicles.

The nurses’ station in the ER. Veronica Brezina.

“EMS will not have to fight pedestrian traffic as they are coming in and we also have an EMS breakroom for paramedics to grab refreshments before they have to head back out,” he said. 

The new entrance. Veronica Brezina.

“Everything is state-of-the-art,” Dr. Michael Longley said. “The private rooms are a huge advancement. The patient rooms are also much larger, it’s almost to the point of being an OR [operating room].” 

The ED has a system to physically transport items between staff. Veronica Brezina.

The new ED will allow the hospital to treat up to 36,000 annual patients versus 28,000 annual patients with the older facility. 

There are also new technological advancements. 

“We have a tube system that allows us to communicate and send materials to other units whether it be patient identification or lab work or medications from the pharmacy instead of having a human walk everywhere,” Dunkel said. 

One of the patient rooms. Veronica Brezina.

The construction timeline for the new ED expansion lagged by three months due to interruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

While the new ED starts accepting patients, the previous ED space may be used for clinical purposes.