Tenet, Scripps Research to build FL hospital

Tenet Healthsystems announced plans to build a new 80-bed hospital on county-owned land in Palm Beach Gardens in partnership with The Scripps Research Institute. The hospital will be built on 30 acres within the so-called Briger tract, a wooded parcel along Interstate 95 and Donald Ross Road that is slated to become phase two of a planned biotech hub. Tenet senior vice president Marsha Powers said the 80 beds would come from three existing Tenet hospitals in the region, St. Mary's, Palm Beach Gardens and Good Samaritan medical centers. As a result, she predicted that Tenet's application to the Agency for Health Care Administration would go smoothly. Powers said the hospital would emphasize orthopedics, oncology, senior care and digestive disorders. Construction will begin once state approvals are in place. Construction should create 250 full-time jobs for two years, and the hospital itself will employ 250 to 300, she said. Palm Beach County Commission Vice Chair Shelley Vana said the hospital should create an economic impact of about $402 million over five years.