"If you build it, they will come." That is a line from the popular movie "Field of Dreams," but the reverse seems to be more applicable to the expansion plans of Broward Health Coral Springs: the population has already been coming, so the health facility is building to be able to accommodate them.

 

Drew Grossman, CEO of BHCS, has been aware of the population growth for a long time. "Four or five years ago we saw that there was going to be a population rush out here in the northwest part of Broward County," he said. "The city of Coral Springs keeps growing. They’re building a whole new downtown – high-rise condos that are going to add anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 additional residents." And in Parkland, just north of Coral Springs, two large developments are being built that could produce upward of 5,000 homes.

 

Grossman said that particular area is growing faster than any part of the county. "It’s growing at about 2.2 percent, whereas the rest of Broward County is growing at about 1/2 percent. When I moved into (Parkland), the population was about 22,000. Now it’s around 26,000 and it’s going to be close to 40,000 in the next three to five years. So we’re dealing with a really unique situation."

 

More than a year ago, Grossman and others from the hospital, along with some outside consultants, began doing a population study to focus on where the growth was going to be in the cities served by the hospital. Once he had the statistics on the growth, the next step was to decide what type of expansion to do. He said the decision was two-sided, based both on gaining a competitive edge with other health facilities and on the needs of Broward Health.

 

The edge, according to Grossman, comes in the area of labor delivery and post-partum services. "That’s what will be on the first two floors of this new South Tower expansion – the first floor will be all labor delivery, and the second floor will be the mother/baby post-partum, and that will have 28 private beds." Grossman said BHCS currently has just 11 private rooms, which has hurt them. "We have some of the best OB-GYN groups around us, and the OBs always want to come here with their patients because they really like our staff and value our level of care; but unfortunately we do lose them to the competitors because they have all private rooms. And I understand that, I think if you’ve just had a baby you would want a private room." BHCS handles between 2,300 and 2,400 births a year.

 

As for one of the hospital’s top needs, that would be more medical/surgical beds. Grossman said BHCS is almost at 98 percent capacity at all times, and the third floor of the expansion will consist of 28 additional, much-needed rooms. He commented, "We put adult patients on two designated overflow units because we run out of beds all the time, so this will help us overcome the shortage."

 

He went on to explain that one reason for the shortage is because the ER volumes have grown. "We expanded our ER in July 2011, from 12,500 sq. ft. to almost 29,000 sq. ft., with (originally) 17 beds – and in those days we used to have six to 10 additional beds in the hallway, which is not acceptable – to a total of 40 now, with no beds in the hallway. In 2005 our ER volumes were close to 47,000 visits a year. We are on pace right now to end June 2015 (the end of the fiscal year) with 66,000-plus visits. So that gives you an idea of the boom of the population."

 

After reviewing all of the bids, as well as the design, Grossman is hoping work will begin on the expansion early next summer, with completion scheduled for the first half of 2018. "We can’t wait to cut the ribbon, open the doors and see smiles – not just on our staffs’ faces, but also on the mothers and baby patients, the families that come to visit, and the people who are afraid that they may have to go to a medical surgical bed – but at least they know they’re going to get into one a lot faster than in the current situation."

 

Grossman concluded, "This expansion is long overdue. It’s really going to help us with patient flow, allowing us to provide beds in a timely manner, which will help our customer service scores; but overall it’s for the citizens we serve in the communities that we serve."