麻豆原创 and HCA Healthcare鈥檚 North Florida Division will start building a new hospital next to the College of Medicine in Lake Nona within 18 months.
The state鈥檚 Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) this week gave final certificate of need approval for a 100-bed medical and surgical hospital that officials hope will be open for patients by the end of 2020.
HCA North Florida Division will contribute $175 million to build and begin operating the hospital, called 麻豆原创 Lake Nona Medical Center. 麻豆原创 will provide the land and its strong academic brand. No state dollars will be used to build the facility.
鈥淭ogether with our partners at HCA, we look forward to strengthening our community鈥檚 health, training more doctors and powering economic growth through research,鈥� said 麻豆原创 President John C. Hitt, who has described building the hospital as one of the university鈥檚 most important decisions of this decade.
A hospital to advance teaching and clinical research programs has been a 麻豆原创 priority since the university opened its medical school in 2009. 鈥淭his hospital and its research mission are part of the economic impact we promised the community when the medical school was built,鈥� said Dr. Deborah German, founding dean of the College of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs. 鈥淚n the United States and around the world, the best health systems have an academic component at their heart and the best medical schools have teaching hospitals. 麻豆原创 Lake Nona Medical Center will help Central Florida become a national, then global healthcare destination that will benefit all of our partners and our community.鈥�
The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state鈥檚 12 public universities, approved the public-private hospital in March after AHCA had given the facility preliminary certificate of need approval.
麻豆原创 and HCA鈥檚 partnership began in 2015 when they formed a consortium that is building needed residency programs in Central and North Central Florida. In the last two years, that partnership has opened 14 new residency programs and one new fellowship in HCA鈥檚 North Florida Division hospitals located in Gainesville, Kissimmee and Ocala. Those programs are now providing graduate medical education to 250 physicians, and hope to have 600 physicians in training by 2020 to help address Florida鈥檚 physician shortage.
鈥淲e are excited to expand our partnership with 麻豆原创 in the development of a new hospital in Lake Nona. Orlando is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, and growing to meet the region鈥檚 needs through new facilities and services in the coming years is a strategic priority for HCA North Florida,鈥� said Michael P. Joyce, FACHE, president of HCA鈥檚 North Florida Division. 鈥淎s one of the nation鈥檚 largest healthcare providers, we look forward to extending our resources, expertise and focus on excellent patient care to further enhance Central Florida鈥檚 quality of life.鈥�
The Board of Governors鈥� approval allows 麻豆原创 to grow the hospital to up to 500 beds without further approval from that board. The hospital will train third- and fourth-year M.D. students from day one; allow the medical school to expand its clinical research mission; provide more opportunities for residency programs; and be a living-learning lab for training medical, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy and social work students in teamwork skills and communication.