Bay Medical to reopen 144 more beds, bolster services

March 16-- Mar. 16--PANAMA CITY -- Bay Medical Sacred Heart plans to reopen 144 beds and enhance services through this year as part of a $47 million investment to rebuild after Hurricane Michael, hospital overseers announced Friday.

Ascension Sacred Heart Health System unveiled its rebuilding plans after finalizing on Thursday a months-long deal to take operational control of the Panama City hospital from Ardent Health Services. With the investment will come more jobs and greater patient care hospital administrators say -- a stark contrast to the layoffs and reduction in services Bay Medical has endured in recent months since the October disaster.

"We are excited about the future of Bay Medical and this opportunity to rebuild health care services to benefit all the residents of Bay County," said Tom VanOsdol, president and CEO of Ascension Florida.

In Florida, Ascension operates Sacred Heart Health System based in Pensacola and St. Vincent's HealthCare based in Jacksonville. Before Thursday's deal, Bay Medical was a joint venture between Ascension and Ardent, with Ardent acting as the hospital's operator. Ardent announced in December that it would sell its controlling interest in the hospital to Ascension because of uncertainty following the hurricane.

Terms of the sale between Ardent and Ascension were undisclosed.

"I'd like to say what an honor it is for us to complete this transaction and to be a source of hope and growth in the community," VanOsdol said.

The Oct. 10 hurricane knocked out all but Bay Medical's emergency room services. In January, the hospital reopened 75 beds, eight operating rooms and five cardiac catheterization labs. Still, in February the hospital laid off more than 600 employees because of the extensive damage and time needed to rebuild. Bay Medical also announced last month that it wouldn't resume baby delivery services.

VanOsdol said he was pleased that Ascension would be able to hire more employees as beds are added.

"I can't tell you yet the number of people, but as we build back up, we'll look at adding more wonderful caregivers," VanOsdol said. "We'll have an emphasis on hiring nursing personnel, but there will be a need for other caregivers."

As part of the plan, the 144 additional beds will be opened in the hospital's south tower. Improvements to the hospital will include upgrades to information technology and the creation of new space for physician offices and laboratory, imaging and pharmacy services.

Also, the hospital campus will undergo a major cleanup, requiring demolition of some of its buildings. Afterward, there will be more space for parking and potential future growth.

"We'll be cleaning up some of the buildings too badly damaged by the storm ... we'll make it much easier to navigate the campus and make it a more wonderful place to receive health care," VanOsdol said.

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