Memorial opens digital-age hospital

People driving behind the young communities along Southwest 172nd Avenue in western Miramar might think the street's intersection with tree-lined Pembroke Road is a strange location for a Mediterranean-style hotel.

But that blue "M" on the sides of the recently constructed buildings doesn't stand for Marriott. It's the Memorial Healthcare System's new 128-bed hospital.

South Broward County's publicly funded health care system shelled out $143 million to build Memorial Hospital Miramar, which will open to patients on March 17. Designed with features like wallpaper, crown molding and wood-imitating sheet vinyl floors in the patient rooms, it resembles a hotel. And with an array of the latest health care technology that makes it nearly paperless, the hospital promises to be among the most advanced in South Florida.