A proposed hospital along State Road 60 and 66th Avenue would require a height-limit exemption, as county commissioners weigh whether to allow a five-story facility in an area currently limited to three stories.
Discussions about a potential third hospital in Indian River County continued during a recent county commission meeting, with representatives for the project seeking to determine whether commissioners would consider an exemption specifically for the proposed facility.
Plans call for a 260,000-square-foot hospital. The project would be located west of the county's existing hospitals, Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital in Vero Beach and Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital in Sebastian.
Commissioner Laura Moss questioned whether the county has established a need for another hospital.
"I don't know that we've established the need for a hospital. We have figures from the existing two hospitals in the county. I don't know that we need a third," she said.
Tim Zorc, who is one of the people speaking on behalf the project, said the potential applicant has conducted its own research.
"If they're coming and looking to invest in the $300 million range, they've done their homework. They wouldn't be looking to sink that type of an investment in a community if they didn't think there was users that would need a facility," he said.
Zorc also pointed to hospital capacity in neighboring counties and the age difference between their populations and Indian River County's population.
"When you take the populations and the number of med-surg beds in Brevard and St. Lucie County, and you divide out how many hospital beds per thousand people, that gives you a really quick, easy answer of how much more healthcare capacity they have. They also have another advantage, their residents on average are 9.2 years younger than the residents here, so we're more likely to have maybe a little bit more intensity use on healthcare because we have an older population," he said.
Dan Sorrow, another advocate for the proposed hospital, focused on the potential impact of its location on emergency response times.
"Location matters when every minute counts. The current hospital serves the island and eastern portions of the county very well. A hospital further west could significantly improve EMS travel times for western county residents," he said.
Sorrow also cited potential delays at railroad crossings as a concern for emergency transportation.
"FEC freight train crossings west of US 1 can add potentially 7-10 minutes of waiting time, and in an emergency, those minutes can be critical. This is fundamentally a health, safety, and welfare issue," he said.
The proposed height exemption has also raised concerns related to the state's Live Local Act. During an earlier discussion, the county attorney expressed concern that changing the height rules could create an opportunity for developers to pursue other five-story projects.
Since then, the county attorney's office has worked with project supporter and attorney Dylan Reingold on language intended to protect the county from that possibility.
Moss remained unconvinced that the proposed language would adequately address her concerns.
"I don't think it protects us. I wouldn't want to take any chances. We already know, we don't need to do two workshops. We had everybody here, when were reviewing the EAR. This room was packed, and that was when people just thought that we might change the height restriction," she said.
Moss also questioned whether the county should make a change before establishing that another hospital is necessary.
"I don't trust it, I don't think it's a legitimate argument, even. [There] can't be an incentive to do something, in which you have not established the need," she said.
Commissioner Joseph Earman took a different view, saying the county's role is to determine whether a proposed hospital complies with its zoning and ordinances rather than determine whether the community needs another hospital.
"I don't think it's our job anymore to determine whether we need a hospital or not. The hospital and healthcare industry is a multi billion dollar industry," he said. "I'm not an authority in it. I don't know whether we need a hospital or not. That's up for the people who run and build hospitals to decide. My Job is to make sure they do it in the confines of our zoning and ordinances."
No vote was taken during the discussion, and no formal application has been submitted.
The project representatives are seeking to gauge the board's interest before deciding whether to submit an application. If an application is filed, the project would go through at least seven public hearings before construction could begin.
The proposed hospital is expected to return for discussion at a future county commission meeting.