PORT ST. LUCIE — Patients wanting to try out Martin Memorial’s freestanding emergency department in St. Lucie West should find their own ride.

St. Lucie County fire and rescue crews are bypassing the freestanding facility in favor of emergency departments at hospitals such as St. Lucie Medical Center and Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute.

“We’re evaluating what type of patients we will transport to that facility,” St. Lucie County Fire Chief Ron Parrish said. “We want to make sure the citizens of the community are going to get the best care in the most timely manner.”
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Martin Memorial Health Systems can build an 80-bed hospital in Tradition, a state administrative law judge has ruled.

The ruling, released late Friday by Judge J.D. Parrish, puts Martin Memorial a step closer to building a hospital to serve the communities in sprawling western St. Lucie County.

“We’re very excited about the news,” said Mark Robitaille, Martin Memorial’s president and chief executive officer. “It’s been a long journey to get to this point.”

Martin Memorial received permission from the state two years ago to build a hospital in Tradition. Hospital officials argued that it was needed because of St. Lucie’s rapid growth and the distance from western communities to the county’s existing hospitals, Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce and St. Lucie Medical Center in eastern Port St. Lucie. (more…)