This year, thanks to the generosity of incredible donors in our community, we have raised the funds needed to move forward on the construction of our new $50 million world-class Anderson Family Cancer Institute. This will serve as the flagship center for integrated cancer care in our region. Once completed, this will be a 55,000-square foot state-of-the-art facility with a focus on combing an academic approach and patient-centered care. It will feature advanced diagnostic and treatment technology, expanded radiation oncology facilities, an infusion center and an education center. Designed to provide convenient and accessible care, the Institute will also include a pharmacy, café, and boutique. We expect construction to begin in early 2018.

 

In 2017, we also received a $5 million lead gift that will allow us to establish a comprehensive stroke center serving northern Palm Beach County. We will be able to provide more advanced care 24/7 to patients suffering strokes and other complex neurological challenges, such as brain hemorrhages and aneurysms. Construction on this new center began this month, and we have hired a new medical director to help further develop the program.

 

We also broke ground on the new Mastroianni Family Pediatric Emergency Department, enabling us to enhance our growing pediatric program, which currently includes the De George Pediatric Unit. We opened this unit last year in partnership with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. This construction project also includes a new 18-bed James J. Felcyn and Louise Brien Felcyn Observation Unit adjacent to the ER, and adds three beds to our existing emergency room, as well as six beds to our intensive care unit.

 

In April, we achieved a milestone when we met the necessary volume threshold necessary to receive designation as a level two cardiac care center. This helps to pave the way for us to begin offering open-heart surgery at Jupiter Medical Center in the fall of 2018.

 

While we continue to strengthen our impact, and expand the Jupiter Medical Center campus, we also are broadening our footprint across Palm Beach County. In 2017, we opened two new urgent care centers—one on PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens and one in downtown West Palm Beach—bringing our total number of centers to four. Our Urgent Care Centers are the cornerstone of our convenient care offerings. They are designed to meet a myriad of health needs for our busy community. Each site offers complete urgent care health services, including on-site laboratory testing and x-rays to enable the rapid diagnosis and treatment of urgent medical conditions and minor trauma. Services to support healthier living are also available such as flu shots, lab services, travel medicine, pre-employment testing or pre-operative clearance. Physical therapy is also available at our urgent care location on PGA Boulevard. We will be opening a fifth location in Stuart in spring 2018.

 

Finally, this year we have strengthened our partnerships with some of the leading medical facilities in the state and on a national level. Whether it’s through our pediatric services with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital or partnering with Mount Sinai New York, we continue to ensure that our neighbors have access to the highest quality care. This past year also saw the introduction of IBM Watson, another tool to assist physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. We also selected a vendor to begin implementation of our electronic medical record system over the next 12 months. This new system will support the flow of clinical data across the continuum of care.

 

As we look to 2018, we will see the fulfillment of all that we have put in place this year. We’re off to set new goals and meet new milestones for Jupiter Medical Center and for our community.