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Ascension St. Vincent’s celebrates new hospital’s topping out

Ascension St. Vincent’s held a topping out ceremony for its new hospital in St. Johns County on Wednesday, July 14 at 9 a.m. Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Johns County is located in the northeast quadrant of I-95 and County Road 210. A topping out typically marks the completion of a building’s concrete and steel structure.

The facility will be 150,000 square feet and initially have 56 beds, including eight ICU beds. It will include all of the services a general hospital offers, including but not limited to emergency services, hospitalization, cardiovascular care, orthopedics and musculoskeletal care, general surgical services, laboratory services, and imaging services. It is being built with the potential to expand as the community grows.


“We’re thrilled to reach this milestone because it means we’re even closer to opening this important addition to our health system and to St. Johns County,” said James Machado, regional president of Ascension St. Vincent’s Southside and Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Johns County. “We want to provide our community with more options, close to where they live and work.”

“This project represents significant growth in a community that we’ve been part of for decades through our Mobile Health Outreach Ministry and most recently through our health center on CR-210,” said Ascension St. Vincent’s Foundation President Virginia Hall. “We strive to ensure that the services we provide are truly accessible to all.”

Ascension St. Vincent’s and general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie officially broke ground on the facility last December.

“Convenient access to healthcare is essential to a community’s wellbeing, and Brasfield & Gorrie believes in building strong communities. We’re honored to build this project in partnership with Ascension St. Vincent’s, who we’ve worked alongside on several other Northeast Florida projects,” said Brasfield & Gorrie Division Manager Erik Sharpe.

Ascension St. Vincent’s based the new hospital’s location on a data-driven analysis of where hospital services are most needed. According to Claritas Demographics, St. Johns County is the fastest-growing county in Northeast Florida. It is also currently the largest county in Florida with only one acute care hospital. The county also has the second-highest population-to-acute-care-bed ratio in the state, meaning residents are having to leave the county to receive inpatient hospital care too frequently.

To learn more about Ascension St. Vincent’s, visit www.jaxhealth.com.

Tom VanOsdol, President and CEO, Ascension Florida and Gulf Coast