Tenet announced Thursday it will build a new, high-tech Good Samaritan Medical Center in downtown West Palm Beach.
The new hospital, which Tenet is calling a next-generation Center of Excellence for health care, will be part of a larger, mixed-use project by Easton Street Capital that will include luxury condominiums, rentals, retail and a hotel.
In total, the development would span about 27 acres in downtown West Palm Beach. The new hospital with expanded services and more beds would rise alongside the existing medical facility on North Flagler Drive, which will stay open during construction and eventually be torn down.
“We will be reimaging the Good Samaritan campus,” said Maggie Gill, group president of Tenet Healthcare. “In partnership with Easton Street Capital, we are redeveloping the site for housing, wellness and health care. This is a well-funded plan to make state-of-the-art health care facilities and technology more accessible to the region.”
The existing Good Samaritan Medical Center, which is licensed for 333 beds, was built in 1920 and is part of Palm Beach Health Network, which includes Tenet’s seven hospitals in Palm Beach County.
A rendering shows the new Good Samaritan Hospital arrival area in West Palm Beach. (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill/Courtesy)
In states like Florida, where the senior population is growing faster than the national average, many hospitals are building new “towers” and renovating facilities to meet the needs of geriatric care today. South Florida is seeing hospitals not just getting bigger but also being “reimagined” with smarter technology and new services.
Gill said the new Good Samaritan will have adjacent medical office buildings and a new cancer center. As a “Center of Excellence,” it will offer more medical services, on-site advanced cardiac care, access to pediatric care, expanded surgical capabilities, and a focus on wellness and preventive care, she said.
“The focus of the entire campus is a place where you can live, work and receive health care with an emphasis on wellness and longevity,” Gill said. “We think of it as an integrative approach to looking at the person holistically to help them stay healthy.”
A rendering of the new Good Samaritan Hospital from the pedestrian bridge in West Palm Beach. (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill/Courtesy)
The vision is to attract a broader patient base.
“Because we will become not just a hospital but really an entire community, we think we could attract people seeking care from beyond West Palm Beach. We see this as having the potential of being destination care,” she said.
Easton Street Capital and Palm Beach Health Network are finalizing plans and expect to submit a development application for city review in the coming weeks.
Cody Crowell, co-founder and managing partner of Easton Street Capital, said the new hospital and housing will be built first.
Housing will include rentals for the hospital workforce, as well as luxury condominiums to attract baby boomers seeking easy access to health care, an alternative to senior living. “I want to build longevity living where we’re trying to enhance the health span and the lifespan of the baby boomers,” Crowell said. “We think there will be buyers from around the country who come into this project.”
Crowell said he anticipates moving quickly. “We have the next three months to firm up the construction budget. Once we have that firmed up, we will move forward into the approval process this summer. We anticipate the planning, zoning and building departments will take about 12 months and then we want to start construction right away and break ground on the first phase.”
Easton Street Capital, a Palm Beach-based real estate investment firm, knows the local landscape and has folded The Frisbe Group into its portfolio. Easton has numerous holdings in Palm Beach County, including South Flagler House (a multi-family housing project), Via Flagler by the Breakers (a mixed-use complex), and One Boca (a mixed-use building).
“We have been investing in South Florida since 1991,” Crowell said. “Our main goal in downtown West Palm Beach is to initiate this state-of-the-art health care facility, leveraging technology to make it more accessible to the region. It’s a very comprehensive, connected, and synergistic project between the housing and the health care components.”
As part of the new hospital construction, Tenet has set up a foundation. Gill said the foundation will fund medical research and education, patient education and access to care, and support programs to attract medical professionals to the new Good Samaritan.
“We don’t need anybody to give to build the bricks and mortar or any of the infrastructure,” she said. “But we know that people are interested in contributing to health care, whether it’s around education, research, or specific clinical programs. So, we will have a vehicle for people in the community to be able to do that.”
Both Tenet and Easton Street said they envision this mixed-use project attracting people of all ages.
“This isn’t just for one sector,” Cromwell said. “It’s for everyone within the community…the inclusivity on this project is really important to note.”
South Florida Sun Sentinel reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.