Pembroke Pines adds long-awaited freestanding ER to expand local care
If Valentine’s Day weekend leaves you hurting beyond heartbreak, Pembroke Pines is rolling out a new medical facility that wants to help you.
HCA Florida University Hospital opens a new freestanding emergency room on Monday, Feb. 16, bringing a range of health care services to southwest Broward County.
“At HCA Florida Healthcare, our mission is simple but powerful, to care for and improve human life. ... As our community grows, so does the need for emergency care that is both immediate and close to home,” Joseph Gleason, the hospital’s CEO, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 11. “Most importantly, this facility represents our promise to be here when you need us most.”
The 10,000-square-foot facility — located at 10100 Pines Blvd. — will operate like any other emergency room housed inside a hospital, say HCA Florida Healthcare officials, and will be open 24/7 year round and staffed with board-certified personnel.
Doctors will treat a wide scope of general and specific health issues — citing broken bones, infections and chest pains as examples — and have several diagnostic offerings, including imaging services such as MRIs, ultrasounds, X-ray and CT scans as well as an on-site laboratory and pharmacy.
If a patient needs care beyond what HCA Florida City Center Emergency can provide, they’ll be transported to one of its 50 affiliated hospitals in the state, with the nearest located in Davie at 3476 University Dr.
The emergency room also houses 11 patient rooms — offering adult and pediatric care — as well as a resucitation trauma room and a dedicated triage area.
As in all emergency departments, its triage system means patients will not be attended to on a first-come, first-served basis, but instead will prioritize those who need the most urgent care.
“We’re going to be able to provide the local families here timely medical care, and we’ll also do this with the compassionate care that we give all of our patients in our main hospital,” said Sarah LaRosa, HCA Florida University Hospital’s emergency medicine chair. “We really are a family at our hospital, and we will continue that here at this free-standing emergency department.”
Plans for the standalone emergency room were announced in early 2025, with HCA Florida Healthcare breaking ground on the site on March 7.
The facility’s Feb. 11 ribbon-cutting ceremony — long-awaited, according to Pembroke Pines Mayor Angelo Castillo — drew dozens of local leaders, first responders and community members to celebrate its christening into the city’s health care offerings.
“We do things as a family here in Pembroke Pines. It’s a city that cares,” Castillo said during the event. “This is a project that has been delayed a little while but it’s a testament to perseverance that nobody gave up on (the emergency room) and made sure that it happened. May it have only success and a long stay in our city, and a successful one as well.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2026 at 12:26 PM.
