SARASOTA, Fla. – Sledgehammers in hand, Sarasota Memorial Hospital leaders gathered this week to celebrate the first step in building a state-of-the-art Behavioral Health Pavilion on its Sarasota campus.
Demolition of the 1960s-era Bayside East, which previously housed SMH behavioral health administrative offices and outpatient services, began on Tuesday to clear the way for a new, 82-bed, 95,000-square-foot Behavioral Health Pavilion that will be built on the east side of Osprey Avenue, between Waldemere and Hawthorne streets.
The current Bayside Hospital on the west side of Osprey Avenue will remain open until the new building is complete, and outpatient programs have been temporarily relocated. Sarasota Memorial is in the preliminary planning phase and will continue working with city planners and neighbors this summer as the design phase continues. Construction is expected to begin early next year and to wrap up in 2023. The facility is being designed and built by Gresham Smith and Deangelis Diamond.
When complete, the new pavilion will have 4 inpatient units with private rooms dedicated for geriatric, adult, children/adolescent and acute-care patients, as well as sensory spaces designed to promote healing and meet the unique needs of patient populations. Part of the pavilion also will be dedicated to the hospital’s expanding outpatient counseling services and partial hospitalization program.
Caption for photo above: Taking part in the first day of demolition on Tuesday, from left: Susan Fallis, director of nursing for SMH Behavioral Health Services; Matthew Thomas, MD, medical director of inpatient psychiatric services at SMH; Lorrie Liang, president of the SMH-Sarasota campus; and Terry Cassidy, executive director of SMH Behavioral Health Services.
About Sarasota Memorial
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of care, with more than 1 million patient visits each year. Its flagship 839-bed, acute-care hospital has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s largest and best, with superior patient outcomes and complete continuum of care – from trauma, emergency and urgent care services to laboratory and diagnostic imaging, home health, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. SMH is the only hospital in Florida to have consistently earned the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ highest 5-star quality award since the rating system launched in 2016.