Jackson urgent-care center planned for Miami Beach

Two of South Florida’s great private hospital systems have been engaged this summer over how best to serve residents and visitors of Miami Beach. The problem is a luxury in a community blessed with a vibrant healthcare industry and committed providers.

Whatever those private institutions decide, however, it’s important to know that Jackson Health System is expanding its commitment to Miami Beach, as we are to so many Miami-Dade communities that have been underserved by clinics and hospitals.

On Monday, the Jackson Bond Citizens’ Advisory Committee and the Public Health Trust Board of Trustees are scheduled to review leases for two new urgent-care centers, including one in the heart of South Beach on Fifth Street between Euclid and Washington avenues.

In addition to offering extended hours and walk-in service, Jackson is finalizing plans to share the space with UHealth, which would feature some of the University of Miami’s leading specialists — a neighborhood version of Jackson and UM’s unbeatable partnership.

If this project is approved, as I expect it will, we plan to open our doors in just 12 months — long before any of the other new healthcare facilities planned for South Beach.

This center would be one of the first four locations — along with North Miami Beach, Cutler Bay and Country Walk — in a planned network of eight to 12 sites. Along with other major projects, such as the new Jackson West campus in Doral and the new world-class rehabilitation center on the Jackson Memorial campus, these represent promises kept from the 2013 bond election.

More important, they represent the expansion of our community’s healthcare system, the growth of the economy and the permanent sustainability of our mission to provide a single high standard of care for every Miami-Dade resident.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Jackson urgent-care center planned for Miami Beach."