Freestanding ER projects on major growth track in region

Baycare bought the site, a former CVS, for $6 million in what will be the latest in a long line of freestanding ER projects from a variety of healthcare organizations in the region.

By Louis Llovio
| 5:00 a.m. July 7, 2026
| 2 Free Articles Remaining!

The BayCareER South Tampa is under construction on the site of a former CVS on S. Dale Mabry Highway.

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

BayCare, the Clearwater healthcare system, has started construction on a new standalone emergency room at one of the busiest intersections in the city of Tampa, its latest project as it expands across the region.

The emergency room is being built at 102 S. Dale Mabry Highway at Kennedy Boulevard, about a mile south of Interstate 75 and the Midtown Tampa development. It is on the site of a former CVS that closed two years ago.

BayCare bought the property in 2025 for $6 million.

The new emergency department is about three miles from both BayCare’s St. Joseph Hospital and Tampa General Hospital. Even closer is HCA Florida South Tampa Hospital, which is about one mile south.

So why build a new facility so close to existing ones?

Chris Bucciarelli, vice president of ambulatory services and chief medical officer at BayCare, says “patients are increasingly seeking quick, convenient and reliable emergency care and freestanding emergency departments play a vital role.”

Wide open market

Standalone emergency rooms are becoming a common fixture among healthcare organizations.

Locally, HCA Florida opened one in Venice last year and followed up in September with one in Parrish. It has plans for another in Lee County.

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System opened an emergency room on University Parkway in Lakewood Ranch last year and earlier this year, AdventHealth broke ground on a freestanding ER in Pasco County.

Those are just a few examples.

And the growth isn’t just local.

According to a June report from Health Data Atlas, which tracks healthcare organizations, the freestanding emergency room market in the U.S. has been growing steadily since 2020, rising from $12 billion to $13 billion to $16.6 billion in 2024. It is projected to reach $23.4 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 5.9%.

“The case for the model is real,” the report says. They not only reduce the number of non-urgent medical issues at nearby hospitals. It also eases overcrowding at hospital emergency rooms, allowing hospitals to use resources on the most critical patients.

“For health systems, they offer a way to expand capacity without the cost of building a full hospital,” the report says.

And care is not compromised, says BayCare’s Bucciarelli.

He says patients going to a standalone ER receive the same level of emergency evaluation and stabilization as they would in a hospital emergency department. And if a patient needs continued monitoring, admission or specialty care, he says the clinical team coordinates a transfer to one of BayCare’s hospitals.

“This model,” he says, “allows us to deliver rapid, convenient emergency care in the community while maintaining a fully integrated system so when higher levels of care are needed, patients are quickly and safely transitioned to the appropriate setting without interruption to their treatment plan.”

Drop zone

The new emergency room joins a growing list of projects for BayCare.

The system is one of the biggest healthcare nonprofits in Florida, with 16 hospitals, including a children’s hospital in Tampa, and what it says are “hundreds of other convenient locations.” Its facilities are located throughout Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties and it posted $7 billion in operating revenue in 2025, according to a financial report.

BayCare’s current plans include developing a pair of medical office buildings in support of its BayCare Hospital Manatee, a $563 million project under construction along with a BayCare HealthHub on Moccasin Wallow Road expected to open in early 2028.

It is also planning a freestanding emergency room on 2.8-acres at 8030 State Road 64 in Bradenton. The 13,000-square-foot facility will have 15 treatment rooms and is expected to open in 2028.

And it’s not just construction. Just last week BayCare announced an innovative partnership with Zipline — yes, Zipline — to deliver medications to patients via drone starting sometime next year.

The new South Tampa ER will be12,300 square feet and have 14 exam rooms, two imaging rooms (for x-rays and CT scans), a lab and an ambulance bay.

It is expected to open early next year.

How is a freestanding ER different from urgent care?

According to Health Data Atlas not knowing the difference can be expensive.

“Both freestanding ERs and urgent care centers are standalone buildings in convenient suburban locations that see walk-in patients. But they are not the same thing and confusing the two can be costly.

“Urgent care centers handle non-life-threatening conditions like ear infections minor cuts, and flu symptoms. They’re not open around the clock and typically cost far less. A freestanding ER is a true emergency department, open 24/7, staffed by board-certified emergency physicians, and priced like one. Research from UnitedHealth Group found that treating common conditions at a freestanding ER costs 22 times more than at a physician’s office and 19 times more than at an urgent care center.

“Many patients don’t know which one they’re walking into until the bill arrives.”

author

Louis Llovio

Louis Llovio is the deputy managing editor at the Business Observer. Before going to work at the Observer, the longtime business writer worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Maryland Daily Record and for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. He lives in Tampa.