Goal is to open three-story, 54,000 square-foot facility in late 2027
The Sarasota Memorial Health Care System “is moving forward with plans to open a new endoscopy and digestive health center next to its Venice hospital campus,” the system’s leaders announced this week.
The Sarasota County Public Hospital Board recently approved plans for the $12-million outpatient center, “which will be located in a leased facility that is being developed contiguous to the SMH-Venice campus,” which stands at 2695 Curry Lane in Nokomis, a news release explains.
Flagship Healthcare Properties is working on “a three-story, 54,000-square-foot medical office building on the vacant parcel adjacent to the Venice hospital campus,” the release notes. Sarasota Memorial leaders “signed a lease to occupy at least one floor with outpatient endoscopy services,” the release adds.
“We are looking forward to opening the outpatient center and expanding capacity as soon as possible,” said SMH-Venice President Sharon Roush in the release. “The need for screenings, both routine outpatient and inpatient, has been increasing every year. Expanding our capacity will reduce wait times and the amount of time from screening to diagnosis, ensuring timely care for all of our patients,” Roush pointed out in the release.
“Since the SMH-Venice hospital opened in late 2021,” the release says, “the volume of gastrointestinal procedures has nearly quadrupled,” from slightly more than 1,000 in the 2022 fiscal year to 3,762 in Fiscal Year 2025, the release points out. Both inpatient and outpatient endoscopies are performed inside the hospital, it adds.
“Expanding endoscopy services to an adjacent center will allow the SMH-Venice gastrointestinal team to schedule more colonoscopies and routine diagnostic procedures outside the hospital, while increasing capacity to treat acute, complex cases inside the hospital, Roush said in the release. “The outpatient location, which will remain a department of the hospital, also will provide easier access and more convenient parking for outpatients.,” the release notes
“Pending permitting and city approvals, Flagship plans to complete the outpatient building in the second quarter of 2027,” the release says. SMH’s design/build team will work in tandem with Flagship to develop a 17,000-square-foot endoscopy center in the building, with the goal of opening the facility in late 2027. “As proposed, the endoscopy center will have 24 exam rooms and four procedural suites, as well as pre- and post-procedural areas,” the release points out. “It will be equipped with the latest endoscopic testing and treatment technology to diagnose and treat diseases and disorders involving the esophagus, stomach, colon, intestines, liver, pancreas and biliary tree,” the release adds.
“It will also be the new home for SMH First Physicians Group’s team of gastroenterologists,” the release continues. “SMH’s multi-specialty digestive health team offers screenings, evaluations and coordinated care for a range of gastrointestinal conditions,” including Barrett’s esophagus, celiac disease, chronic liver disease, diverticular disease, esophageal motility disorders (including achalasia), gallstones/gallbladder disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), GI cancers (including colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, esophageal cancer and pancreatic cancer), hemorrhoids, inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), irritable bowel syndrome, pancreatitis, pancreaticobiliary disorders and peptic ulcer disease, the release says.