PALM BEACH GARDENS — With business and community leaders and members of the public in attendance, executives at northern Palm Beach County’s newest hospital offered the first look at services to come when the Alan B. Miller Medical Center formally opens its doors on May 19.
More than 500 people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 29 for the hospital, which stands on 34 acres off Interstate 95 south of Donald Ross Road. It will be Universal Health Services’ second acute-care facility in Palm Beach County, joining Wellington Regional Medical Center. The company also has a freestanding emergency room in Westlake.
Miller — named for Universal’s founder — will be one of three hospitals, including Jupiter Medical Center and Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, within 8 miles of each other in northern Palm Beach County.
The seven-story, 365,000 square-foot facility that towers over I-95 next to Alton, a neighborhood in Palm Beach Gardens, eventually will have 156 private patient rooms. Gina Melby, its CEO, said Miller will have 66 patient beds to start, with the remaining 90 beds to be added in later stages. It will have the capacity to expand to as many as 290 patient beds.
Services at Miller, Universal’s fourth medical surgical hospital in Florida, will include robotic surgery, heart and vascular services, and surgical oncology, among others.
The interior features several spaces lined with art pieces and will integrate art as part of Palm Beach Gardens’ Art in Public Places program.
“This was a major accomplishment to be able to get to this point today,” Melby said. “We still have surveys and inspections that we have to go through before we get to first patient day, but we’re confident that we’re going to get there.”
Melby, previously the CEO of HCA Florida JFK Medical Center in Atlantis, became the new medical center’s leader in April 2025. She described the challenges of starting a new hospital, including putting together a new staff.
“Building an experienced team of leaders was probably the most important part of this because they come with experience. They know how to put things together to get the hospital on the right start,” she said.
After introductory remarks by hospital executives, county and city leaders, and the ribbon-cutting, guests toured the hospital’s facilities, including its surgical suites, emergency room and patient rooms.
Miller himself attended the ceremony and helped cut the ribbon to open the medical center bearing his name. He attended with son Marc, Universal’s president and CEO.
“This is a remarkable day for me and my family,” said the elder Miller, who remains Universal’s executive chairman. “I got into the hospital business to help people. I never intended to be the biggest, I always wanted to be the best. I want our hospitals to treat patients the way I would want my own family treated.”
Julius Whigham II covers northern Palm Beach County and public safety for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Massive Gardens hospital will expand north county health care
Reporting by Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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