Skybridge lifted into place at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville

One of the first major pieces is in place for the Baptist Health Jacksonville Entry Building and Wolfson Children’s Critical Care Tower on the Southbank.

A 110-ton pedestrian skybridge was lifted into place May 23. The 85-by-10 steel bridge will connect Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital to Baptist’s P2 parking garage along Palm Avenue. 

When parking in the garage, visitors and patients can use the skybridge to enter the hospitals without walking on the street. 

The skybridge will open in late September. 

“We want to ensure patients and visitors experience a welcoming introduction to our downtown campus. Parking is often the first interaction with our campus, even prior to entering the facility,” Michael A. Mayo, president of Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, said in a news release.

“By connecting our parking garage to the future entrance of both our adult and pediatric hospitals, we are standing true to our commitment of connecting the community to comprehensive health care,” he said.

Construction is underway on the seven-story entry building and critical care tower and is expected to be completed in 2021. It will serve as the “new front door” to the hospital, reorienting the medical campus. 

The total job cost is estimated at $10 million. Freeman White is the architect on the project. DPR Construction and Perry-McCall Construction are the contractors.

It will include a 92-bed neonatal intensive care center and a 35-bed pediatric intensive care unit. The NICU will replace the current 56-bed newborn ICUs at Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

The units will allow treatment for more highly specialized, rare and critical conditions and pediatric post-trauma care.