St. Joseph's Women's Hospital in Tampa Opens $75M Expansion

St. Joseph's Women's Hospital has opened its $75 million 64-suite neonatal intensive care unit, which houses 15 Level II and 49 Level III beds, the Tampa, FL hospital announced.

The NICU occupies two floors of the five-story addition that also doubles the size of the hospital's breast imaging center.

The Hinks and Elaine Shimberg Breast Center on the ground floor provides diagnostic tools and resources including CT scanner, ultrasound, DEXA scan, digital mammography, MRI, Computer-aided Detection and minimally invasive biopsies. There, patient care is coordinated by an interventional team that includes board-certified radiologists, physician assistants, biopsy technologist, nurse navigator and biopsy scheduler, St. Joseph's said.  

The expansion also includes 36 private patient suites for new mothers and a dedicated 16-bed gynecology unit for medical and surgical patients.  A staff nurse navigator provides resources for the patients and their families, the hospital said.

The expansion features:

• All private NICU suites with an in-room family area  
• All-digital diagnostic imaging services
• All-private suites for Women's Care patients (obstetrics, gynecology, surgical) with full bathroom and in-room family area

Each NICU private room provides a "womb-like setting" to help premature babies develop faster, improve patient safety, and better accommodate families, St. Joseph's said in a media release. 

St. Joseph's Women's Hospital is part of 10-hospital, not-for-profit BayCare Health System and is the only hospital in the Tampa Bay area dedicated to women and infants.