Every report that attempts to peer into the future of the Lake Nona Medical City area sees the same vision – a community that will continue to boom for decades.
That’s one of the reasons Orlando Health Physician Associates decided to open an office there this spring.
“This is a good growth opportunity for us,” Dennis Buhring, president and CEO of Orlando Health Physician Associates, explained why they located in Lake Nona.
With its attractive combination of medical research and healthcare facilities, as well as its variety of residential homes and apartments, it’s no wonder young professionals and families have been settling down in this area designed to promote a healthy lifestyle.
The community is barely 10 years old, but it has already succeeded in attracting thousands of residents. And that’s just the beginning. The 7,000-plus acre Lake Nona area is expected to “experience by far the most housing and population growth” in the Orlando region over the next 27 years, according to the City of Orlando Growth Projections Report published in June of 2014.
Buhring and others with Orlando Health Physician Associates could see for themselves what was happening in Lake Nona.
“We saw this as an underserved area,” Buhring explained. “When we took a look at our zip code population to see where people were coming from, we were seeing a lot of people coming from that area. So it just made a lot of sense for us to open an office there.”
Orlando Health Physician Associates relocated physicians and staff from its Vista Lakes office on Chickasaw Trail to the Lake Nona location. But when they moved, they found some space they could rent that is closer to the residential area than the Medical City area. The new office is located at 9679 Lake Nona Village, on Narcoossee Road between the entrances to the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club and NorthLake Park.
“The clinic is located more in the residential area and has very easy access,” Buhring added. “It’s very visible. Our preference is to be closer to the residents in a residential community.”
Orlando Health Physician Associates, one of the largest multi-specialty healthcare groups in Central Florida, opened its office in Lake Nona with three physicians: Alix Casler, MD; Daniel Goddard, MD; and Norman Lamberty, MD and two nurse practitioners offering pediatrics, adult medicine and obstetrics and gynecologic services.
“We’ve found out that what has worked well with us is to have offices that offer a variety of services,” he noted. “So we have obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics and then we have adult medicine. That works so well for everybody because we can take care of the many needs of our families.”
Within months, this formula at the Lake Nona clinic has proven to be a prescription for success. As the Lake Nona Medical City community continues to grow, Orlando Health expects to grow right along with it.
“The growth has exceeded our expectations,” Buhring said. “We will continue to watch the demand,” he said. “I think one of the things that is really important when you have obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and adult medicine, is to make sure you have ample availability. I think right now we are meeting the demand, but as demand keeps growing, we can see this office expanding.”
When securing their office space in Lake Nona, representatives of Orlando Health Physician Associates were given the right of first refusal for some additional space that is adjacent to its existing clinic - if the need arises.
“At the moment there are no definitive plans to expand,” Buhring explained. “But if the demand keeps going as it has initially, we will add additional providers there.”
LINKS:
Orlando Health Physician Associates http://www.paof.com/
City of Orlando Growth Projections Report http://www.cityoforlando.net/city-planning/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2014/06/GMP2013-2040Projections.pdf
