Texas-based Nutex Healthcare plans to build and open a micro-hospital facility in 2024 at northeast Beach and Kernan boulevards.
It operates 221 facilities in eight states and plans to expand into Florida with facilities in Lakeland, Hallandale, Gainesville, Clermont, Fort Myers. Bradenton and Jacksonville.
The company was formed in 2010.
For the year ending Sept. 30, 2021, it reported revenue of $163.9 million, said Dr. Warren Hosseinion, Nutex president.
He had no construction cost estimates for the Jacksonville location.
A micro-hospital offers emergency room services and operates like a traditional hospital but on a smaller scale.
Nutex Healthcare micro-hospitals do not provide surgical or labor and delivery procedures. They have between eight and 10 hospital beds, Hosseinion said.
“We handle the bread-and-butter type of medical cases,” he said.
Patients would use the facility for mishaps and common illnesses. It provides X-rays and lab services on-site.
The micro-hospitals usually have about 50 personnel on duty. Like traditional emergency rooms they are open 24/7, 365 days a year.
In the Nutex Healthcare business model, doctors are partners in the practice.
Patients are treated by board-certified doctors rather than nurse practitioners.
Its target patient wait time is 15 minutes, Hosseinion said. In the event of patient overload, on-call doctors are brought in to expedite service.
Expanding into Florida is a logical step, Hosseinion said.
“Demographically Florida has a large population of seniors and the population is growing in general. There is a need for more health care services.”