Thomas Hospital, an Infirmary Health System facility based in Fairhope, is seeking state approval to build south Alabama’s first free-standing emergency department in Daphne, a move hospital leaders say would dramatically improve access to round-the-clock emergency care in fast-growing Baldwin County.
The hospital has filed a certificate-of-need application with the State Health Planning and Development Agency. If approved and construction moves forward, the Daphne facility would become just the third free-standing ER in Alabama, following planned projects in the Birmingham area. Unlike an urgent care clinic, a free-standing emergency department operates around the clock and functions identically to a hospital-based ER, just without inpatient beds on site.
Earlier this week, the Daphne City Council voted unanimously to send a letter of support for the project to state regulators. The letter describes the proposed facility as greatly needed and says it would improve access to health services throughout the county while serving as an asset to the broader community.
Thomas Hospital Administrator and Vice President Ormand Thompson said the new facility would essentially extend the hospital’s emergency capabilities directly into the Daphne area. He said the department would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with full-service physician staffing, radiology and lab services, and coordination with local EMS crews for patients who need ambulance transport to a full hospital.
Thompson said an exact site has not been finalized, but the hospital is eyeing property along Alabama 181 near Interstate 10. Plans also call for attached physician office space to house additional outpatient services. Thompson emphasized that the Eastern Shore, which includes Daphne, Spanish Fort and Fairhope, remains one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and hospital officials believe the expanded emergency access is overdue given that growth.
Daphne Mayor Dane Haygood spoke in support of the project, recounting a personal experience from the previous year when one of his daughters was injured during a community Relay for Life event. Because the local urgent care clinic on Alabama 181 in Malbis had already closed for the evening, Haygood said he had to drive roughly 12 miles to Fairhope for treatment. He noted that even a short distance can feel like an eternity during a medical emergency, and praised Thomas Hospital for continuing to invest in expanded services for the community.
If the certificate-of-need application is approved, the free-standing ER would mark a significant expansion of emergency medical infrastructure along the Eastern Shore, an area that has seen rapid residential growth in recent years but has lagged in dedicated round-the-clock emergency facilities outside of Fairhope proper.
No timeline for a final regulatory decision was announced, and hospital officials said additional details on design and site selection would follow as the approval process moves forward.