Sarasota Health News

North Port's new ER names leaders, starts hiring staff

David Gulliver - posted 12:10 am Friday, July 24

North Port's three-decade wait is just five weeks from ending: Its free-standing emergency room, with its own ambulance, will open Sept. 1 and today starts recruiting medical staff.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital officials recently confirmed the opening date of the North Port Medical Plaza and named the new facility’s top personnel.

The hospital also is conducting a job fair from 1 to 4 p.m. today (Friday, July 24) at the site, 2345 Bobcat Village Center Road, off Toledo Blade Boulevard. It is seeking registered nurses, ER technicians, medical technologists, radiology technologists, respiratory therapists and physical therapists.

That staff will be reporting to a team of two veteran SMH personnel and a new recruit.

The site administrator will be David Carter, who has served as regional director for emergency medical services at FirstHealth of the Carolinas, a non-profit group of hospitals and clinics in central North Carolina. He is a registered nurse, paramedic and has been a flight paramedic on medical transport helicopters.

Vanessa Lewis-Gordon will be site supervisor, overseeing staff, registration and scheduling. She currently serves as supervisor of patient registration in the main SMH emergency care center.

Nancy Angelo Finzar, a registered nurse, will be clinical manager for the emergency room. She also is transferring from the main hospital, where she is clinical manager of several nursing units.

The medical plaza will have a full-featured emergency room, as well as 18 treatment rooms and 23-hour observation rooms. It also will have imaging, laboratory, rehabilitation and home health services. The second floor has private physicians' offices.

The opening will be at least a partial culmination of 33 years of efforts by North Port officials and residents, who have pleaded and lobbied for the city's own hospital -- even delivering 22,600 letters to Tallahassee in 2003. The next year, state health planners approved a hospital permit, known as a certificate of need, only to have a judge overturn the decision.

Now, 18 months after the groundbreaking, North Port residents see the finish line. Sam George, who headed a citizens' healthcare advocacy group, praised SMH officials for living up to their promises, and said it should create momentum in a community that until recently had no pediatricians. "It's going to be a big step in bringing physicians to this community," he said.

The facility also soon will have its own ambulance. The Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation announced it is spending $422,218 on a custom-built ambulance that will be kept full-time at the North Port facility. The hospital's Employees Partners in Caring fund contributed $28,903 of the cost.

Until the vehicle is delivered, SMH will station a cardiac ambulance, also funded by the foundation, in North Port full-time. when the ER opens Sept. 1. SMH also will contract with private transport firm Ambitrans to serve as a backup.

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corrected with revised EPIC fund amount from source, 7/29/2009.





	North Port's new ER names leaders, starts hiring staff David Gulliver - posted 12:10 am Friday, July 24 North Port's three-decade wait is just five weeks from ending: Its free-standing emergency room, with its own ambulance, will open Sept. 1 and today starts recruiting medical staff. Sarasota Memorial Hospital officials recently confirmed the opening date of the North Port Medical Plaza and named the new facility’s top personnel. The hospital also is conducting a job fair from 1 to 4 p.m. today (Friday, July 24) at the site, 2345 Bobcat Village Center Road, off Toledo Blade Boulevard. It is seeking registered nurses, ER technicians, medical technologists, radiology technologists, respiratory therapists and physical therapists. That staff will be reporting to a team of two veteran SMH personnel and a new recruit. The site administrator will be David Carter, who has served as regional director for emergency medical services at FirstHealth of the Carolinas, a non-profit group of hospitals and clinics in central North Carolina. He is a registered nurse, paramedic and has been a flight paramedic on medical transport helicopters. Vanessa Lewis-Gordon will be site supervisor, overseeing staff, registration and scheduling. She currently serves as supervisor of patient registration in the main SMH emergency care center. Nancy Angelo Finzar, a registered nurse, will be clinical manager for the emergency room. She also is transferring from the main hospital, where she is clinical manager of several nursing units. The medical plaza will have a full-featured emergency room, as well as 18 treatment rooms and 23-hour observation rooms. It also will have imaging, laboratory, rehabilitation and home health services. The second floor has private physicians' offices. The opening will be at least a partial culmination of 33 years of efforts by North Port officials and residents, who have pleaded and lobbied for the city's own hospital -- even delivering 22,600 letters to Tallahassee in 2003. The next year, state health planners approved a hospital permit, known as a certificate of need, only to have a judge overturn the decision. Now, 18 months after the groundbreaking, North Port residents see the finish line. Sam George, who headed a citizens' healthcare advocacy group, praised SMH officials for living up to their promises, and said it should create momentum in a community that until recently had no pediatricians. "It's going to be a big step in bringing physicians to this community," he said. The facility also soon will have its own ambulance. The Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation announced it is spending $422,218 on a custom-built ambulance that will be kept full-time at the North Port facility. The hospital's Employees Partners in Caring fund contributed $28,903 of the cost. Until the vehicle is delivered, SMH will station a cardiac ambulance, also funded by the foundation, in North Port full-time. when the ER opens Sept. 1. SMH also will contract with private transport firm Ambitrans to serve as a backup. ---- corrected with revised EPIC fund amount from source, 7/29/2009.