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PUNT CITY - South Florida Baptist Hospital broke ground Jan. 15 on a $10.5million, 36-bed emergency center.
The new facility, called the James & Ruby Jean Redman Emergency Center, will help the already overcrowded department provide for an increasing number of patients.
The emergency department currently handles about 40,000 patient visits annually, although it was built to accommodate 25,000.
The new facility will allow the hospital to increase capacity to 72,000 visits.
That in turn means more inpatient admissions. As much as 65 percent of the hospital's admissions come through the emergency room.
"Emergency rooms are now the front doors of the hospital," said Bill Ulbricht, chief operating officer.
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