Here's a look at Baptist Health's new $234 million hospital in Clay County

Darin Roark was excited, like a child unwrapping a new toy under the Christmas tree.

"Just absolutely beyond words. Thrilled and elated," he said.

For a hospital administrator, almost nothing tops opening a new hospital. So Roark, Baptist Medical Center Clay's president, was giddy about the $234 million, six-story Fleming Island facility's first day in business Monday, the week before Christmas.

Roark, who hosted media tours and a public open house, said he was most excited not for himself but for everyone else in Clay County to unwrap their new health care gift. They now have a full-service Baptist Health option in their home county, so they do "not have to leave" and seek care in Jacksonville or elsewhere, he said.

"Clay County residents told us they needed hospital-based health care services close to home," said Roark, who lives on Fleming Island. "Now the community has the high level of patient care they expect from Baptist Health — right here in their own backyard.”

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Baptist Clay, at U.S. 17 and Village Square Parkway, is the third full-service hospital in the county. The others are HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital, founded in 1974, and Ascension St. Vincent's Clay County Hospital in Middleburg, which opened in 2013.

The newest hospital has 102 beds, 20 maternity suites, a neonatal intensive care unit, comprehensive heart, cancer care and surgical care, among other services, and produced about 400 jobs. It is the latest addition to the Baptist Clay campus, which already has a full-service emergency room, surgery center and medical office building.

Also on the campus is Baptist HealthPlace, a health and wellness center that offers specialties such as primary care, cardiology, urology, neurology, walk-in lab draws, a women’s imaging center for 3-D mammograms and bone density tests. Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center join the lineup in spring 2023.

Health care demand in Clay County

Baptist Health opened the campus in 2013, targeting Fleming Island as one of Northeast Florida's fast-growing communities. The 45-acre campus has room for more development and two floors in the hospital are shells waiting to be used.

"There is a lot more growth on the horizon," Roark said.

One of the most compelling aspects of the Baptist Clay hospital, he said, is that it was designed to not look so much like a hospital.

"The hospital blends the most advanced medical care with patient comforts and an elegant design," according to Baptist Health. "Medical staff supplies and back-room operations are strategically tucked away from patient care settings to minimize noise and disruption. Large private patient rooms, calming LED lighting and soundproof doors add to a quiet healing environment."

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Among the patient comforts are the CAT scan being on the same floor as the intensive care unit, "so people don't have to take a ride," he said.

At the recent community house, some guests were crying they were so impressed with all the bells and whistles, particularly with the neonatal intensive care unit.

"It was emotional," Roark said. "It means a lot to folks here to have health care close to home."

Clay County leaders also appreciate that Baptist Clay is the only locally owned, locally governed, not-for-profit hospital in the county.

"Decisions about Baptist Clay are made locally by people who know and understand our community," said Deborah Pass-Durham, board chairwoman for Baptist Clay. She grew up in Clay County and is founder and principal at Potentiae, a business consulting firm, and former president of ATS Services, a national employment services company. "We are entrenched in the community and shape our decisions based on local residents’ needs."

Construction began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to "preventive measures that were incorporated into the hospital design," according to Baptist Health. They are:

• To maximize infection control, fourth-floor intensive care unit rooms can quickly be switched to negative pressure, a ventilation technique. That prevents contaminated air or other dangerous particles from entering non-contaminated areas.

• Restrooms have "touchless" fixtures and doors.

• Baptist Clay has its own central energy plant, a generator that operate "off the grid" when needed.

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

BAPTIST MEDICAL CENTER CLAY

The hospital is at U.S. 17 and Village Square Parkway, 1771 Baptist Clay Drive, in Fleming Island. For more information call (904) 516-1000 or go to baptistjax.com/locations/baptist-clay-medical-campus.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville-based Baptist Health opens new hospital in Clay County