AdventHealth Begins Surgeries At Largest Surgical Expansion In Tampa Bay History

TAMPA, FL — Doctors officially began surgeries in the new $300 million Taneja Center for Surgery at AdventHealth Tampa, the largest surgical expansion in Tampa Bay history, on Tuesday at 6 a.m.

The six-floor, 314,000-square-foot surgical tower at 3100 E. Fletcher Ave., Tampa, is a state-of-the-art facility built to expand for Florida’s growing population and larger robotics needed for intricate surgical cases requiring multiple surgeons.

Construction began in October 2018 and the official ribbon-cutting took place Sept. 23.

The center includes:

• 18 new, 750 square foot operating rooms, among the largest in Tampa Bay to accommodate complex robotics, with capacity to build out to 24.
• A negative pressure ante room outside the operating room to keep surgeons and patients safe during infectious cases. It removes infectious bacteria/viruses through a separate air handling system.
• Indigo clean lighting to allow for disinfection even during surgeries.
• Livestreaming pathology in the operating room.
• 96 new private patient rooms with a capacity to expand to 132.
• 4 operating rooms with table-side pathology services, eliminating the wait for pathology results.
• A state-of-the-art Sterile Processing Center with all new equipment including three types of terminal sterilization: steam, H2O2 and chemical. At 5,000 square feet, it is significantly larger than the previous space. The new space is a state-of-the-art Steris showcase site.

“This is more than a new building at AdventHealth Tampa. The Taneja Center for Surgery is a beacon of medical innovation that brings the best doctors and technology together in one place to provide reimagined care for our community,” said Denyse Bales-Chubb, president and CEO at AdventHealth Tampa. “We’re not just expanding our footprint in Tampa Bay’s Uptown District; we’re expanding the opportunities for life changing medically complex care for everyone right here at home.”

“This is a state-of-the-art project that will provide specialty care in Tampa Bay that you can’t find anywhere else in our area,” said Brian Adams, president and CEO of Florida Hospital Tampa. “Our goal is to design a surgical tower that isn’t just relevant today, but will be relevant 30 years from now, combining surgical innovation and the most advanced robotic technologies with the nation’s best physicians.”

The Taneja Center for Innovative Surgery at Florida Hospital Tampa will mean closer access to highly specialized care for the Tampa Bay community. Florida Hospital Tampa currently receives more than 2,000 patients a year who need advanced medical care they cannot get anywhere else.

“We are currently performing advanced robotic surgeries at Florida Hospital Tampa, and this tower will allow us to have more advanced technology and innovation, allowing us to create the best possible outcomes for patients,” said Dr. Allen Chudzinski, a Harvard-trained surgeon and director of colon and rectal surgery at Florida Hospital Tampa who specializes in colorectal cases. “As a surgeon, you look to be at a hospital that has the latest surgical technology and is preparing and shaping the future of surgery."

“We have some of the world’s most highly trained surgeons in multidisciplinary fields who use the most up to date medical treatments for patients who may not otherwise get that kind of care. We have the tools and the teams, and now we have Tampa Bay’s largest surgical expansion in history to support our work and serve as a symbol to this community so they know just what kind of specialty care is here for them,” said Dr. Doug Ross, vice president and chief medical officer at AdventHealth Tampa.

“We look forward to utilizing these ultramodern operating rooms to complete complex procedures that families no longer need to scour the globe to find,” said Chudzinski. “Our goal each time we step into the operating room is to provide world class care and the best possible outcomes for patients. We look forward to recruiting some of the best surgeons from around the world to help us continue to make good on our promise to this community.”

AdventHealth Tampa is the flagship hospital for AdventHealth in Tampa Bay. The hospital is a not-for-profit 626-bed tertiary facility located in the Uptown District of Tampa, serving Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and other surrounding counties

The hospital was built in 1967 and became a part of the AdventHealth Network in 2010, one of the largest health care networks in Florida comprised of more than two dozen hospitals throughout the state, and one of the largest not-for-profit faith-based health systems in the nation with more than 50 hospital campuses across the country.

The Taneja Center for Surgery at AdventHealth Tampa is named in honor of the Taneja family, who made their gift in honor and memory of their late son and AdventHealth Tampa patient, Mandeep Taneja. Jugal and Manju Taneja provided the largest donation ever to Florida Hospital West Florida Division.

“This gift will forever remind us of our son Mandeep, and his wonderful care at Florida Hospital Tampa. This is for him and for other patients like him. When other patients are saved by this institute, we will be very happy,” said Jugal and Manju Taneja.

Key services provided at the new surgery center include:
⦁ Cardiovascular
⦁ Digestive Health
⦁ Neuroscience
⦁ Oncology
⦁ Complex minimally invasive and robotic-assisted procedures

AdventHealth Tampa currently treats more than 17,000 patients a year who need advanced medical and surgical care. Surgeons in the Taneja Center for Surgery will provide medically complex neurologic, cranial, metastatic liver and colorectal cancer and pancreatic medical care that patients would not be able to receive anywhere else.

The AdventHealth Tampa Foundation is raising a total of $21 million to support AdventHealth’s investment in the Taneja Center for Surgery.

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