Photo: Rendering: Orlando Health
Photo: Memorial Healthcare
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Economic Backbone: Hospitals
A Hospital Reborn
- This month, Memorial Healthcare, the south Broward public health district, marks significant progress in its $88-million renovation of 70-year-old Memorial Regional Hospital, the system’s flagship hospital.
Hospital associate administrator Jon Pickett says a birthplace expansion is 60% complete. Renovations and expansion of the trauma center and emergency room likewise are progressing, he says.
The hospital devoted $68 million to expanding the birthing center, redesigning a full floor to include all private rooms, a family lounge, classrooms for new parent classes and a simulation lab. The hospital says it leads Broward County hospitals in the number of babies born.
The system is spending another $20 million upgrading its Level 1 Trauma Center and emergency room to enhance its ability to deal with critical cases and mass casualty events. The hospital says its 94,000 ER visits in 2022 are the second highest number in Florida.
“This investment reflects the hospital’s commitment to remaining at the forefront of medical advancements and reflects our unwavering dedication to the community we serve,” says Peter Powers, CEO, Memorial Regional Hospital.
Completion of birth center work is scheduled for late 2024. The trauma center work will be completed in early 2025.
Memorial opened with 100 beds in a one-story building in 1953. It’s now among the larger hospitals in the state with 863 beds.
- Orlando Health is building a $160-million Children’s Pavilion focused on specialized children’s care with an opening planned for 2026. The six-story building will be across from Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and will bring more than 30 pediatric specialties together, with a goal of streamlining care for kids and their parents.
- HCA Florida Healthcare opened a freestanding HCA Florida Mount Dora Emergency center in Eustis. The 11,000-sq.-ft. facility features 11 treatment rooms and a suite of on-site diagnostic imaging tools and will operate 24 hours a day.
- UF Health is converting a former CVS pharmacy at in Eustis into a free-standing 24-hour emergency room with an expected opening in March. The system is also looking to break ground on an emergency room in Clermont, with an opening in late 2024.
