UCF Lake Nona Hospital set to open on Monday

Lake Nona is set to get a new hospital next week. The University of Central Florida (UCF) and HCF Healthcare’s North Florida Division have partnered to open a new state of the art hospital in central Florida that will open on March 1.

UCF Lake Nona Medical Center will be the first full service hospital in Lake Nona. The 204,000-square foot facility is worth $175 million, according to UCF. It’s construction was contracted to Layton Construction who broke ground in 2018.

 

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“Our goal was to make sure we designed not just a hospital but a world-class healthcare resource that will serve the evolving needs of one of the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas,” said Wendy Brandon, CEO of the hospital. “We expect to serve more than 17,000 patients in our first year.”

The hospital estimates that it will create 350 new jobs in the area.

In addition to primary care, the hospital will also provide services in cardiology, colorectal surgery, gastroenterology, orthopedic surgery, pulmonology, nephrology, OB/GYN, infectious disease, nephrology and neurohealth sciences, among others.

The hospital will open with 64 inpatient beds and a 20-bed emergency department. The building is built to potentially expand to 500 beds in the case of future growth.

The hospital will be a part of the HCA Healthcare North Florida Division which includes four other hospitals in the Orlando area.

Lake Nona is a community in the southeast portion of Orlando. As of 2015, there were an estimated 50,000 residents in the community, including a large community of Puerto Rican immigrants.

Orlando already has two nationally recognized hospitals. AdventHealth Orlando is the top ranked hospital in the country in children’s specialty services according to US News. The Hospital was also honored as one of the 250 best hospitals in the nation for the third straight year by Healthgrades this year. Orlando Regional Medical Center is ranked fourth in the country in children’s specialty by US News services as well.