The six-story, 300,000-sq-ft AdventHealth Tampa Taneja Center for Surgery will offer the region the latest in medical capabilities in a flexible space able to adapt to the area’s future needs.

The facility houses 18 surgical operating rooms, 96 patient rooms, 72 pre- and post-op rooms with a 16,785 sq ft central energy plant and six-story, 282-car garage expansion. It’s built to accommodate a vertical, three-story expansion for the fast-growing Tampa Bay region. Work on the $156-million project—which would involve more than 350 craft professionals at the peak of construction—began in fall 2019 and completed at budget in February 2022,.

The expansion includes a two-story glass-walled atrium at the main entrance, with a lobby featuring natural live gardens, 160-seat auditorium and chapel, while the fifth-floor patient rehabilitation gym overlooks scenic views and tropical rooftop terrace.

Robins & Morton navigated challenges throughout the project, including working out a deal with the local electric utility to subcontract needed underground duct bank work to onsite contractors, completing the work in three weeks instead of three to six months and removing the need for power shutdowns. The project team found two different full-voltage circuits running underneath the site for the new central energy plant (CEP), requiring new underground duct banks that would have taken the utility three to six months to install.

One Best Projects judge pointed out that solution as a particular point that helped the project stand out from other contenders.

Photo by Chad Baumer

“I thought that was very innovative,” the judge says. ”That really caught my eye … We’re looking for things that are above and beyond.”

That CEP includes innovative measures like a low-temperature, low-humidity system that exceeds air change requirements with less energy, is future-ready, with Aaron Johnson of TLC Engineering saying its valve and cap connections make it easy to add chillers and cooling towers in the future. Shell space for 36 more surgical beds, 23 additional pre- and post-op rooms, and six additional operating rooms are in place and ready for growth and upfit when needed.

“It is a team of builders, architects, nurses, pharmacists, surgeons and planners who put together all the small details that make such a big difference at the bedside,” says AdventHealth Tampa assistant vice president of support services Larry Bagby.

When the tower was at about 30% completion, the strictest of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions went into effect, straining labor capacity and leading the project team to conduct outreach and identify more than 100 additional workers, including many from Orlando, as non-essential projects paused in that market.

“The Taneja Center for Surgery is a beacon of medical innovation, bringing the best doctors and technology together in one place to provide reimagined care for our community,” says Denyse Bales-Chubb, president and CEO of AdventHealth Tampa in the application. “We’re not just expanding our footprint, we are expanding the opportunities for life-changing, medically-complex care for everyone.”