Lakewood Ranch Medical Center expansion hits key milestone

The beam topping ceremonies never get old for Orlando's Bill McCartha, the senior superintendent for Brasfield and Gorrie, the nation's top general contractor by volume when it comes to healthcare construction.

McCartha was all smiles June 20 as a crane lifted the ceremonial final construction beam — covered with the signatures of various hospital employees and construction workers — skyward to complete the structural framework of the new $120 million hospital tower at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center.

He explained that in 2021 a similar ceremony was performed in Orange City for the new patient tower at AdventHealth Fish Memorial. That $100 million expansion included a new emergency department, intensive care unit, and the "Baby Place."

In 2024, his brother, Duncan, went to that hospital tower when his wife had a baby. "I knew he was in good hands," Bill McCartha said. "I knew it was a clean, safe building."

It is with similar pride that he undertakes each healthcare assignment.

"This is one of the greatest honors of my life," McCartha said of working on healthcare construction. "We pride ourselves for doing blue collar work with white-glove service."

Photo by Jay Heater

While white-glove service might be the norm, on June 20 it was muddy-boots service. A heavy downpour just before the beam-topping ceremony left streams of water running through the ground level of the new construction. 

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center broke ground on the patient bed tower on June 11, 2024. McCartha said the construction is ahead of schedule, partially due to extra space in the hospital's parking lot that has allowed Bradfield and Gorrie to store materials, making them more accessible to the workers. He expected to receive a certificate of occupancy by next April.

The completion of the structural framework is a key milestone and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center CEO Robert Anderson, who took over April 21, said he was confident the new tower will be in use by February. According to the hospital, the five-story tower will increase the hospital’s capacity by adding 60 patient beds (30 for intensive care patients and 30 for progressive care patients) and will facilitate emergency room patient flow.

It also will allow for the expansion of key ancillary departments and will accommodate growth in medical/surgical, complex cardiology and neurological services.

The entire tower will not be built out immediately, with a shell left for an additional 60 patient beds as the hospital grows.

Photo by Jay Heater

"This is exciting," Anderson said. "This (expansion) helped to bring me to Lakewood Ranch ... knowing this was here. I have been with two hospitals that expanded, and I am used to this kind of growth."

Anderson, who has more than 25 years of healthcare leadership on his resume, came to Lakewood Ranch Medical Center from Tenet Healthcare where he led the Memorial Campus hospital and the Providence Children's Hospital in El Paso, Texas.

Even so, he said the key to the tower expansion has been to allow Brasfield and Gorrie to do its job.

"You hire good contractors and a good company to run it," Anderson said. "I mean, this is their 1,000th project. They know what they are doing."

McCartha appreciates the trust.

"The most unique thing about this process is the incredible harmony we have had with the owner and the facility," McCartha said. "This is one of the best projects I've ever had in terms of relationships. We know what we are doing ... and they trust us."

While the ceremonial beam raising was a key part of the June 20 ceremony, more important was the meals provided to more than 300 construction workers.

"From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for all the work," McCartha told the workers before he turned them loose on the buffet line.

The five-story, 170,000-square-foot tower might be considered uniquely expensive at $120 million, but McCartha said it will be a "very robust" building.

"It's built to be here more than 100 years," he said.

McCartha explained that all the concrete is "cast-in-place," which means all the concrete is mixed and poured into forms at the construction site, rather than being pre-fabricated. The concrete is therefore one solid piece after curing.

He said his company also is building a structure that will eventually house a "robust mechanical system."

The Lakewood Ranch Medical Center opened in 2004 with 160 credentialed physicians and allied health professionals. The hospital now has more than 750 medical providers.

Photo by Jay Heater

At the groundbreaking for the new tower, former CEO Andy Guz, who preceded Anderson, called the tower the most significant expansion in the hospital's history. 

"This is going to be something that puts us on the map," Guz said at the time. "This has been a long time coming. In order for us to keep up with the demand of the community, this is the project that needs to happen."

The tower is now the tallest building on the hospital's campus. The hospital's bed capacity will now be 180 beds.

The tower will enable the hospital to expand its intensive care unit, progressive care unit and the pharmacy, laboratory, education, pre-admission testing and food and nutrition services departments.

The construction is built so that another two stories can be added at a later time.

More than 100 new jobs are expected to be created once the tower opens.

Anderson noted that the hospital will continue to expand as Lakewood Ranch grows.

"We are going to continue to upgrade," he said, agreeing that expanding outward on the campus would be hard. "I always can go up."