Orlando Health To Buy Land Near Lakeland For Medical Campus, Hotel, And More
Orlando Health has a contract to buy about 80 acres on the south side of Lakeland for a potential future medical campus that eventually will include up to a 360-bed hospital.
It also will feature medical office space, a small hotel and limited supporting retail, which will be built out in phases as part of a long-term plan.
Executives with the nonprofit health care organization and network of community-based hospitals said plans for the property, the first phase of which is not expected to be built for several years, are still under development, and Orlando Health will research and seek community input to ensure the eventual Orlando Health Lakeland Health & Wellness campus meets the needs of Lakeland and nearby communities in Polk County.
“Serving Polk County has been a part of our long-term growth plan for years,” said Matt Taylor, vice president of asset strategy with Orlando Health, in a prepared statement.
Sanlan RV & Golf Resort Inc. owner Edward Holloway is the seller of the vacant property that’s in an unincorporated part of the county, just south of the Polk Parkway on the east side of Lakeland Highlands Road. Orlando Health has applied for annexation of the land by the city and for changes to the comprehensive land-use plan and zoning. While Orlando Health executives do not expect traffic associated with the project to significantly impact the area, a new traffic study will be part of the process.
“Our planning is in the very early stages,” said Taylor. “We intend to take our time and be very thoughtful. We will become involved in the community at different levels, including community meetings, civic groups and a public website. When we are ready to move forward, we want to ensure we are meeting the needs of the community.”
Orlando Health, AdventHealth and Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) all have projects that are part of $525.1 million in facilities that will be completed this year.
Expansion projects like the new hospitals — which create temporary construction positions and full-time medical jobs — allow health care facilities to expand into new territories where they don’t already offer services. Meanwhile, area hospitals also are wrapping up construction work on new medical office buildings, freestanding emergency rooms and expansions to their current facilities that add beds or other services.
Orlando Health is a $3.8 billion health care organization with hospitals, physician practices and outpatient care centers across Central Florida. The organization is home to the area’s only Level One Trauma Centers for adults and pediatrics, and it is a teaching hospital system. More than 3,100 physicians have privileges across the system, which is also one of the area’s largest employers with more than 20,200 employees who serve more than 167,000 inpatients, more than 2.7 million outpatients, and more than 20,000 international patients each year.
Central Florida expansion is the name of the game for hospital companies in 2020. Click here for the Orlando Business Journal slideshow ‘14 Central Florida Medical Projects Set To Open In 2020‘.
Source: Orlando Business Journal
