On Sept. 23, President George Hanbury announced groundbreaking for a 10,000-square-foot emergency medical facility on the main campus.
Hanbury also announced a partnership with Hospital Corporation of America East Florida to propose an academic and research hospital.
Hanbury said HCA East Florida is filing a Certificate of Need (C.O.N.) with the Agency for Health Care Administration, the chief health policy and planning organization for Florida, to request approval to build the academic and research hospital. Approval is based only on a genuine need in a community and is granted to the best proposal among competing applicants who are attempting to provide a particular health service. If approved, HCA East Florida will be able to build the $120 million hospital, which will have up to 100 beds.
The hospital will be part of the planned 3-million-square-foot Academical Village, which will replace University Park Plaza, the shopping center on University Drive. It will include a hotel and conference center, healthcare clinics and offices. According to HCA officials, this area was selected for its central tri-county location.
Besides being open to the public, students will be able to work in the hospital starting their junior year. The hospital will offer students research opportunities, residencies, internships, clinical rotations and practicums in osteopathic medicine, dental medicine, optometry, pharmacy, nursing, mental health, family therapy and other medical fields.
Michael G. Joseph, president and CEO of HCA East Florida, said that HCA expects to increase the level of care it gives to patients with the academic research the hospital will provide. He also said the hospital’s futuristic approach to technological advancement will help create more than 5,000 jobs.
NSU’s first attempt at having a $200 million teaching hospital with North Broward Hospital District in 2005 was unsuccessful. However, Hanbury and Joseph feel that the specialized research concentration of the hospital and the Academical Village’s future economic benefit of over $1 billion annually will convince the members of the Agency for Health Care Administration to approve the C.O.N.
Jacqueline Travisano, executive vice president and chief operating officer, is hopeful due to NSU’s significant growth in externally funded research and clinical components since the last attempt, and the development of NSU’s Center for Collaborative Research facility in 2014.
“The only thing we know for certain is that the emergency facility will be built now,” said Hanbury of the project. “I urge [students] to encourage others to support the Certificate of Need for NSU’s academic research medical center.”
Zasha Erskine, sophomore nursing major and president of the Nursing Student Association, is optimistic about the proposed plan.
“We know it’s going to take a while to build it, but it is an opportunity for us and for nursing students or for anyone in the healthcare profession. So we’re definitely grateful for that,” she said. “It’ll definitely put a better name to NSU.”
Construction of the emergency facility will begin within the next six months.
