HCA Florida Northwest Hospital reports growth, outlines expansion plans in Margate

Kenneth Jones, CEO of HCA Florida Northwest Hospital, updated the Margate City Commission on the hospital’s recent patient volumes, workforce and capital projects and said the facility is preparing to expand clinical capacity to meet local demand.

Jones told commissioners the hospital — founded in 1984 and operating a 289-bed facility in Margate — handled 56,611 emergency department visits and 15,772 admissions in the last reporting year, and recorded a near-term rise in births and surgeries. He said births totaled 1,787, NICU admissions were 239 and surgical procedures rose about 10 percent.

“Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life,” Jones said, repeating the hospital’s mission statement. He also said staff and physician growth accompanies clinical expansion: the campus lists more than 1,000 colleagues and more than 800 active physicians on staff. Jones described the hospital as a trainer of physicians through an expanding graduate medical education program that grew from 35 residents in 2020 to an expected 236 in 2025.

The hospital emphasized economic impacts and local spending. Jones said total economic impact figures include roughly $155,000,000 in combined physician coverage, wages, capital investment, charity care and local vendor spending; he also described the hospital as a significant local taxpayer.

Jones outlined several capital projects either completed or planned. He announced a biplane suite for complex stroke care with an open house scheduled for January 31, and said work is under way on a hybrid operating room and a surgical services expansion that will add three operating rooms. He described a longer-term plan to add two stories to the main tower — a fifth floor to expand obstetrics (postpartum and labor-and-delivery) and a sixth floor for medical-surgical rooms and possible rehabilitation beds — and said the hospital is studying lobby and south-side expansion that could add 30–40 beds.

Jones said the hospital has also repurposed adjacent properties to secure space for conferences and future development; he described no final plans for exterior redevelopment beyond conference and staff space. When asked about a rooftop helipad, Jones said that option “has not come up recently” and that air transport isn’t routine because the hospital provides trauma and burn services and uses ground-transfer arrangements when needed.

City leaders pressed for details. Mayor Schwartz and commissioners asked whether the campus could expand upward to add floors; Jones confirmed the tower footprint supports additional stories and reiterated the immediate focus is the surgical expansion and the biplane stroke capability. Jones said pediatrics inpatient service is unlikely to return in the near term because pediatrics requires pediatric nursing and subspecialty coverage and the hospital is concentrating on adult services while partnering with pediatric referral hospitals.

Jones named members of his team present for the briefing — including Chief Nursing Officer Rona Hall and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Victor Jaffe — and described recent capital investments: a 2018 $75 million tower, PACU and cath-lab upgrades, and additions such as a 128-slice CT and an electrophysiology lab. He said the hospital is Joint Commission accredited and recently received primary stroke certification.

The presentation closed with Jones thanking residents for supporting the hospital and noting recruitment and graduate medical education growth planned through 2029.

Ending: Commissioners thanked Jones for the report and asked staff to continue coordinating on zoning, traffic and development matters tied to hospital expansion.