St. Anthony’s Hospital Moves Into New Patient Tower

Kenneth Hill of New York had been at St. Anthony’s Hospital for a short time when he learned that he would become the first patient to move into the hospital’s new 90-bed patient tower.

“I feel so special,” said Hill as nurses and hospital transporters gathered his belongings for the walk down the hall and across the walkway to the new building. His room, on the fifth floor of the tower, “doesn’t really feel like a hospital room,” Hill said. “And look at this view.”

The new six-story tower opened to patients on May 10 as part of the hospital’s $152 million construction project. The expansion, which began in 2020, adds approximately 143,000 square feet to the hospital’s campus. The tower project is part of a multi-year expansion, renovation and relocation of hospital services. With the addition of 90 all-private patient rooms, the hospital is now licensed for 448 beds.

“In our 90th year, we are excited to provide this new facility for our growing community,” St. Anthony’s President Scott Smith said. “This project allows us to provide an enhanced patient experience while improving access to patient care.”

The tower is now home to several departments and units including the inpatient hemodialysis unit. The dialysis team moved from an 812-square-foot space to a 4,600-sq-foot space on the second floor of the tower.

The dialysis unit has all private treatment rooms including two rooms that can be used for isolation patients. The number of patients that can be treated at a time has doubled from five to 10.

In addition to inpatient dialysis, the project includes expansion, renovation and relocation of hospital services including:
• Non-invasive cardiology
• Pre-admission testing for surgical patients
• Three additional surgical suites
• New electrical plant
• New classrooms
• Expanded loading dock
• Cafeteria and kitchen (moved from the ground floor up to the first floor for easier access by visitors)

As more patients moved over, they continued to be impressed with the facility. “This is like a hotel,” said Virginia Holscher of North Redington Beach. “I’m the first patient in here? This is amazing.”

Smith, St. Anthony’s president, said it was the reaction they had hoped for. “The spacious rooms feature calming art and warm décor to help make patients feel at home,” he said. “We know that our new tower, like our existing hospital, will provide a healing and welcoming place for our patients, their families and visitors.”

St. Anthony’s will continue to relocate patient units and services into the new building to provide needed additional capacity. Units that were relocated are being refilled with new patients as demand for services continues to grow. More construction is planned near the hospital’s emergency center later this year.