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Baptist Breaks Ground For New Medical Park

Bob Barrett

Baptist Health Care broke ground on a major new building project Tuesday afternoon in Pensacola. The new $6 million medical park is located on 12th Avenue in front of the Hyatt Hotel at the Pensacola Airport.

At the groundbreaking ceremony,  Mark Faulkner, the President and CEO of Baptist Health Care told  a crowd of local guests and officials that locating the new facility at the airport will maximize its value to the community. "We're certain that this location will provide that added level of accessibility to our patients and our clients who seek our services. And, certainly it's convenient for those who travel in and out of Pensacola."

This will be Baptist’s third medical park in the area. The two-story complex will be 24,000 square feet and will include the Andrew’s Institute for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Baptist Heart and Vascular Institute as well as primary and specialty physicians. There will also be a special emphasis on urgent care at the facility.

"Each facility has its own mission to fulfill" said Chad Henderson, the CEO of Catalyst CRE, the developer of the project. He says many of the people who will be using the building were involved in planning the facility. "Certainly this is a very collaborative process with the end user. So Baptist Health Care had all of their (people in) on the front end of this."

Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward addressed the crowd at the ceremony. Afterwards he talked about the caliber of health care in the area. He said this investment in the area by baptist was "tremendous".

The new Baptist Medical Park at Pensacola Airport is set to open early 2017. 

Bob Barrett has been a radio broadcaster since the mid 1970s and has worked at stations from northern New York to south Florida and, oddly, has been able to make a living that way. He began work in public radio in 2001. Over the years he has produced nationally syndicated programs such as The Environment Show and The Health Show for Northeast Public Radio's National Productions.