New Hospital Planned for 2024
Orlando – A new hospital with 136 inpatient beds plus 24 Emergency Department beds is coming to the south side of Lakeland that will soon increase access to high-quality health care for residents in the area’s fast-growing neighborhoods and communities. Orlando Health today announced it will begin to develop its Orlando Health Lakeland Highlands Hospital and associated campus on approximately 80 acres it owns south of the Polk Parkway at Lakeland Highlands Road and the Winter Lake Extension Road. Construction will begin in the late spring of 2022 and the new hospital is expected to be open by fall 2024.
“With the extraordinary growth we see in Lakeland and Polk County, the need for this hospital is clear and we are so excited that Orlando Health is here to help meet this need,” said Jamal Hakim, MD, chief operating officer, Orlando Health. “At Orlando Health Lakeland Highlands Hospital, we will provide a broad range of healthcare services. Here, at one convenient location, you will be able to get exceptional emergency and inpatient care from clinical experts in multiple specialties, the highest quality diagnostic services, and seamless access to all of Orlando Health’s trusted primary and specialty care providers.”
The multi-story hospital and campus will be designed by HOK and VHB and will have the ability to grow to a size that could eventually accommodate up to 360 hospital beds. According to the plans the city approved in 2019, the campus could ultimately include a 20,000 square foot ambulatory surgical center, 240,000 square feet of medical office space, 20,000 square feet of retail space, and a 150-room hotel.
“We have been delighted to work with Mayor Bill Mutz, the Lakeland City Commission, City Manager Shawn Sherrouse, and city staff to ensure we are addressing the needs of the community,” Dr. Hakim said. “Their forward-thinking leadership and professionalism will help make the Orlando Health Lakeland Highlands Hospital a tremendous asset for the area.”
Orlando Health is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $7.6 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, the system was founded more than 100 years ago.
The healthcare system is recognized around the world for its pediatric and adult Level One Trauma program, co-located at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center, where more than 50 victims of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting were treated in June 2016. The system is also home to the only state-accredited Level Two Adult Trauma Center in the St. Petersburg region at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies houses the nation’s largest neonatal intensive care unit under one roof and is the only facility in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida. Orlando Health also operates the National Training Center for Olympic athletes and the Orlando Health Network, which is recognized as one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. The system’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows including more than 40 who are enrolled at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. Orlando Health clinicians have pioneered life-changing research including therapies for end-stage breast cancer and identifying biomarkers to detect traumatic brain injury.
Orlando Health is a 3,100-bed system that includes 16 wholly-owned hospitals and emergency departments; rehabilitation services, cancer institutes, heart institutes, imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, physician offices for adults and pediatrics, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with CareSpot Urgent Care. Nearly 3,400 individual physicians, representing more than 90 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the Orlando Health system, which employs more than 23,000 team members. Areas of clinical excellence are orthopedics, heart and vascular, cancer care, neurosciences, surgery, pediatric specialties, neonatology, women’s health and trauma.
Orlando Health hospitals are: Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, Orlando Health – Health Central Hospital, Orlando Health Horizon West Hospital, Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center; Orlando Health South Lake Hospital; Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital, Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital and Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.
In FY21, Orlando Health served nearly 160,000 inpatients and nearly 3.6 million outpatients. During that same time period, Orlando Health provided approximately $648 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more. Additional information can be found at http://www.orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @orlandohealth.
