Bartow Regional Hospital plans $110 million expansion project
By Pam Huff
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jul 12, 2024

Bartow Regional Medical Center, a BayCare Health System hospital, has big growth plans in the coming year.

The hospital board approved a plan to take the hospital from 72 beds to 90 and enhance its emergency, catheterization lab and surgical services departments. The first step will be to relocate the helipad to make room for the expanded ER, which will add 27 exam rooms and a second floor.

The $110 million project is designed by Tampa-based HDR Architecture and will happen in many phases.

"We want to continue to grow with our community and have the health care services that are needed with that growth," Karen Kerr, president of Bartow Regional, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. "We know the market is going more toward the outpatient arena, but the sickest of the sick will be in the hospital. We want to make sure we have room for the patients in need, but we don't want to overbuild."

Kerr said the hope is to start the project by the end of this year. Now that they have board approval, the next step is permitting with the city of Bartow. The whole project is estimated to be done by the end of 2026.

The hospital also plans to renovate internally after the new ER is built. Here are the other phases planned:

Moving ICU to the new second floor and doubling the size from six to 12 beds

Adding a 12-bed ICU step-down unit to the new second floor

Adding one additional cath lab/interventional radiology suite

Adding two additional operating rooms

Adding 11 new post-anesthesia care unit bays

Adding space for the sterile processing department

Adding space for clinical engineering

Bartow Regional serves South Lakeland, Bartow, Fort Meade, Mulberry, rural south Polk County and northern Hardee County.