Latest Look At Riverview's St. Joseph's Hospital-South

In October 2012, construction began on St. Joseph's Hospital-South, the first not-for-profit hospital to serve the growing South Shore area, which according to a hospital news release "is now considered to be somewhat medically underserved."

According to oversized signs in view on Big Bend Road, just west of U.S. Highway 301, the 352,000- square-foot hospital is "coming [in] 2015" approximately one-half mile east of the intersection of Interstate 75 and Big Bend Road.

• See Rotarians Get Update On Riverview's St. Joseph's Hospital-South

At 6901 Simmons Loop Road, about five miles from Riverview High School, hospital staff will service 90 private patient suites plus an additional 22 observation rooms. 

Open for business now, according to the signs, photographed Sept. 1, 2014, are BayCare Outpatient Imaging, BayCare Laboratories and the Physician Office Building.

According to hospital news online, the following services will be offered at the hospital, which is under construction behind the Physician Office Building:

• Emergency Center : A full-service, 32-bed unit with all-private examination rooms, with 10 exam rooms dedicated to fast-track patients.

• Surgical and Interventional Platform: Six operating room suites, with two designated for women and two interventional radiology/cardiac catheterization laboratories. Services include general, orthopedic, urology, outpatient pediatric, and gastrointestinal endoscopic surgery; and interventional radiology and cardiac catheterization. The women's platform includes obstetrics assessment, labor and delivery, and women's operating rooms for low-risk obstetrics.

• Intensive Care Unit: A high-tech, 16-bed intensive care unit for patients with complex medical and surgical needs who require close observation from specially-trained nursing staff.

• Medical/Surgical Units: Two 30-bed medical/surgical units with all-private rooms.

• Mother/Baby Unit: A 14-bed unit with all-private rooms to accommodate mother, baby, and family. A 10-bassinet nursery will also be available.  St. Joseph's Hospital-South will be a referral link to St. Joseph's Hospitals (Main Campus) for tertiary care related to trauma services, cardiac surgery, Cancer Institute, Children's Hospital services, neonatal intensive care unit, high risk obstetrics and multiple births.

About St. Jospeh's Hospital-South

• St. Joseph's Hospital-South will be part of BayCare Health System, a leading community based health system in the Tampa Bay area. Composed of a network of 10 not-for-profit hospitals, outpatient facilities and services such as imaging, lab, behavioral health and home health care, BayCare provides expert medical care throughout a patient's lifetime.