A new emergency room will open Monday in St. Augustine, and Baptist Health says it will make health care more accessible for nearby residents. 

“There’s about 140,000 people that live within 10 miles of our St. Augustine freestanding (emergency department),” Chief Nursing Officer Tammy Daniel tells Jacksonville Today. “We know this community is growing. We know there’s people that have emergencies every single day, and they have to drive into St. Augustine or up further into Jacksonville. Now they won’t have to.”

Right off of Interstate 95, near St. Augustine’s outlet mall, the emergency department will fill a niche for the growing community — the nearest hospital is about 10 miles away, and the nearest dedicated children’s hospital is in Jacksonville.

“All the staff are trained to take care of pediatrics, so that should be reassuring to family members that they can bring their kids here,” Daniel says. “And if they need expanded care, we’ll have a mobile NICU and a mobile ICU that can transport them up to our children’s hospital where we have full services.”

The new 16-bed ER is fully kitted out with an ambulance bay, resuscitation rooms and a helipad to airlift patients to nearby hospitals. When it opens, it will be staffed by around 80 professionals, with two doctors on call during the day. 

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Baptist Health stressed that there’s more to the ER than just its emergency services. One goal with the new facility is to provide nearby outpatient care for people who live and work in the area. 

The facility can provide CT scanning, mammograms, X-rays and other imaging services for patients, all with a separate entrance to the main emergency room. It’s all about trying to make things smoother for the community, Daniel says.

The new ER, at 461 Outlet Mall Blvd., will open at 7 a.m. Monday.