Tampa General Hospital Continues Its Master Facility Plan with Completion of a New Central Energy Plant

The new $53 million central energy plant is part of Tampa General's comprehensive master facility plan.

TAMPA, Fla., March 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As an essential feature of its $550 million master facility plan, Tampa General Hospital has opened its new 16,000-square-foot central energy plant. Specially constructed to provide a reliable, protected power supply to the 1,041-bed hospital, the central energy plant has built-in redundancies to seamlessly support Tampa General during major storms or other disruptions to electric service.

"Every aspect of our master facility plan is intended to create a health care network with the most advanced technology and cutting-edge care to serve the greater Tampa Bay region and beyond. Our new central energy plant can accommodate our electrical power needs now and into the future," said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General.

Located 33 feet above sea level, the four-story central energy plant holds four generators to provide 100 percent power to Tampa General's main campus in the event of an outage. "This additional generation capacity will take our campus from 50% emergency power to 100% redundant power," said Dustin Pasteur, senior director of design and construction, Tampa General. "With the addition of the natural gas generators, this also means we will be able to run much of the plant continuously, well beyond the 96-hour regulatory requirement."

Tampa General's new central energy plant's leading-edge design features construction to withstand the impact and potential flooding of a Category 5 hurricane. The redundant power supply was built with an eye toward conservation of natural resources. Three of the four generators run on natural gas. "This is a greener way to generate power and the fourth generator is a Tier 4 diesel which has a special design built to achieve the highest level of reduced emissions set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)," said Pasteur. In addition to the generators, three new boilers with built-in redundancy create steam and hot water for the purpose of sterilization of surgical instruments, cooking, and hot water for handwashing and personal hygiene.

Announced in September 2021, Tampa General's comprehensive master facility plan is the largest in the hospital's history and is the strategic cornerstone to the academic medical center's commitment to developing Tampa Bay's first medical district to serve the region's increasing health care needs.  

"Our master facility plan is an investment in our team, physicians, patients, in our academic health system, and in our community," noted Couris. In addition to the newly opened central energy plant, details of Tampa General's expansion include:

• New ICU – opened in June 2021, this project added 34 ICU rooms with upgraded and advanced care technologies
• Bayshore Pavilion vertical expansion – the project will add four floors to Tampa General's Bayshore Pavilion (above the Emergency Department), providing 12 new operating rooms and 100 new ICU rooms
• Regional Burn Center renovation and expansion – now underway, this project will provide larger rooms and more efficient layouts, and will be complete in December 2022
• Renovated main operating room suites – the project will renovate existing operating rooms and will modernize and upgrade equipment
• Freestanding emergency department – located one mile from the hospital's main campus on Kennedy Boulevard and North Willow Avenue, the 15,000-square-foot facility will provide additional ED capacity to serve community needs
• New corporate parking garage – an eight-story, 2,000-space parking garage is under construction at the TGH Corporate Center off Kennedy Boulevard to consolidate off-site team member parking
• TGH Cancer Institute at Brandon Healthplex – new clinic space will be added to provide multidisciplinary integrated oncology services: a hub for diagnostic testing, treatments, and support services, including a new infusion center and radiation therapy
• Purchase of Hillsborough Community College Davis Islands building – this building, adjacent to the main hospital campus, will be outfitted for administrative, education and training space to make hospital space available for more clinical programs
• Off-site sterile processing facility – this project will move sterile processing off of the hospital campus to streamline operational efficiencies to support surgical services operations

Construction of these projects will run through 2026. As TGH updates and adds to the 25-acre campus, covering over 3 million square feet, Tampa General will also renovate the hospital's main lobby, which will improve patient and visitor flow and efficiency.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 1,041-bed non-profit academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2021-22 Best Hospitals, and one of the top 4 hospitals in Florida, with five specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. The academic medical center's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious 2021 Forbes magazine rankings – America's Best Employers by State, third out of 100 Florida companies and first among health care and social organizations and 13^th nationally in America's Best Employers for Women. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal 2020 provided a net community benefit worth more than $182.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health and 19 outpatient Radiology Centers. Tampa Bay residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics, and they can even receive home visits in select areas through TGH Urgent Care at Home, powered by Fast Track.  As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost.  For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

Media Contact: Karen Barrera
Assistant Director of Communications & Partnerships
(813) 844-8725 (direct)
(813) 928-1603 (cell) 
[email protected]

SOURCE Tampa General Hospital