Heart Rhythm Center: In March 2023, Baptist Health opened a Heart Rhythm Center, the region’s first facility of its kind.
The Heart Rhythm Center is a comprehensive, hospital-based destination for caring for the heart’s electrical system, a special field of cardiology called electrophysiology.
The 14,400-square-foot center includes 10 patient rooms with a view of the St. Johns River and three hybrid operating rooms equipped with imaging and surgical technology.
Familial Brain Aneurysm Study: Over the past year, Baptist Health recruited more than 500 patients for its research study funded by the state of Florida to assess the hereditary probability of brain aneurysms.
The study is intended to help researchers determine to what extent a family’s history of aneurysms can play in determining the likelihood of their occurrence in later generations.
The findings may be used to advance the use of screening during routine medical exams and finding alternatives for screening options in patients who may be at risk.
Immunotherapy: Mayo Clinic in Florida is developing cellular therapies to provide new cures for patients. Its new biomanufacturing facilities support clinical-grade manufacturing of advanced cellular therapies, for example engineered stem cells and tissue engineering products.
Dr. Hong Qin, director of Regenerative Immunotherapies, developed the first proprietary CAR-T cell therapy that will be manufactured in the facility. CAR-T therapy is used to destroy certain cancers.
Carbon Treatment: The Integrated Oncology Building will be the first U.S. hospital-based heavy ion (carbon) treatment facility when it opens in 2026.
In collaboration with Cosylab, Mayo Clinic is developing an adaptive patient treatment planning system that enables real-time adjustments to patient treatment plans, saving time and increasing efficiency.
New facilities: Over the past couple of years, HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital has invested more than $220 million to expand capacity and elevate its services.
It recently completed the five-story, 96-bed East Tower expansion that houses rooms for medical and surgical patients, as well as areas for outpatient testing, imaging services and patient registration.
The hospital also opened an additional 20-bed Intensive Care Unit. Upcoming projects include a 22-bed Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit expansion, construction of an Interventional Radiology Suite and an increase of its Cardiovascular Care capabilities.
The hospital also is upgrading its MRI machine and adding a scanner, purchasing two CT machines and opening two fluoroscopy rooms.
Treatment first: Neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Horowitz is the first in North Florida to complete a rare treatment available for brain cancer patients.
GammaTile Therapy, a surgically implanted radiation therapy, is the insertion of tiny tiles into the brain to delay the regrowth of a brain tumor.
The small tiles provide targeted radiation, limiting the damage to healthy tissue surrounding the cancer.