Out with the old, in with the new: Good Samaritan to build brand-new hospital
By Rachael Perry
Click here for updates on this story
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — Palm Beach County’s oldest hospital will soon be knocked down as a brand-new one is built.
Good Samaritan Medical Center announced Thursday plans for a new hospital and a campus to include housing, commercial space, and more. Construction for the new hospital will begin shortly on the land where the CVS currently sits.
Maggie Gill with Tenet Healthcare runs Palm Beach Health Network.
“The first thing we’ll be doing is building a brand-new hospital. So right behind where Good Sam sits today, we’ll be building a brand-new, state-of-the-art, expanded-capacity hospital that will be built and designed to serve this community for the next hundred years,” Gill told WPBF.
The hospital will include a cancer center, advanced cardiac care, office space for doctors, and a walking path for patients.
“We see the growth in the West Palm community. We hear what the community is asking for in terms of health care, more advanced cardiac services, access to pediatric care, things like that,” Gill said.
The hospital’s history dates back to 1914, when a five-bed cottage known as “Emergency Hospital” opened on land donated by Henry Flagler. It was the first organized hospital in the region.
As the population continued to expand, the Good Samaritan Hospital opened its doors in 1920 with 35 beds. It would become the county’s first modern medical facility.
“We have definitely spent a lot of capital maintaining Good Sam, but I do think that it is time to build something that is more modern, more efficient,” Gill said.
She said as the area grows, they want to grow with it.
“West Palm today is not what it was five years ago, much less 106 years ago, and as we think about what’s happening, the growth here and the needs of the community and what we’ve heard, we have a unique opportunity to build that,” she said.
Once the new hospital is built, the current building will be knocked down. Gill said it will be replaced by a campus centered around wellness.
“Through our partners at Easton Street Capital and Frisbee Group, we’ll be building additional workforce housing, other types of housing, condo, commercial space, etc. So, it’s an entire ecosystem anchored by health and wellness,” she said.
That could even include a hotel.
“We do see that the future of Good Sam looks like destination care, and we want to give people a place to be able to stay, convenient to the resources that are here,” she told WPBF.
Gill said it’s about creating a space where health and wellness are a priority while also factoring in work and play.
“Multi-generational care. Live, work, and play in one area where we have it all. We can take care of you; you can work here, and you can live here. We can take care of your kids, we can take care of your grandparents, and we can do it all in one site,” she said.
As for the timeline, Gill said they will be starting construction on the new hospital very soon, and that should take roughly three years.
Operations at the current hospital will continue until care can be transferred to the new building.
Once that’s complete, the current hospital will be knocked down and replaced with a longevity and wellness center, workforce and market-rate housing, community wellness amenities, and a walkable, pedestrian-focused environment.
Easton Street Capital and Palm Beach Health Network are finalizing plans before submitting a development application for City review in the coming weeks.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.