�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital Is LEED Gold Certified — A First In Florida

Wendy Sarubbi — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 15:44:49 +0000

�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital announced Friday it received LEED Gold certification — the first and only hospital in Florida and only the 28^th in the nation — to achieve this green building designation. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, (USGBC), is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and an international symbol of excellence.

�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital is a joint venture between the university and HCA Healthcare that opened two years ago adjacent to the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine in the heart of Lake Nona’s Medical City. In addition to providing needed in-patient care to non-veteran adults in the community, the hospital serves as an education site for �鶹ԭ�� medical and nursing students and a site for collaborative medical research.

The designation recognizes the hospital’s commitment to sustainable building products and energy-saving operations, including:

Systems that reduce water use, including sinks, toilets and showers, that conserve 767,908 gallons of water per year — equivalent to nearly 6 million bottles of drinking water
Native landscaping that reduces water consumption by nearly 600,000 gallons of water each year
High efficiency LED lighting and other systems that save over 21% in annual energy costs, as compared to standard design and construction practices
On-site recycling, recycled and sustainable building materials, and the fact that 75% of the building waste during the hospital’s construction was recycled

“Today we celebrate another step towards creating improved health and wellness in Lake Nona and Central Florida. Sustainability is a growing priority and we are excited about this recognition by the USGBC,” says Wendy Brandon, CEO of �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital.“This is one more way I am proud of the work we are doing at �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital.”

Through design, construction and operations practices that improve environmental and human health, LEED-certified buildings are helping to make the world more sustainable. In the U.S. alone, buildings account for almost 40% of national CO2 emissions, but LEED-certified buildings have 34 percent lower CO2 emissions, consume 25% less energy and 11% less water, and have diverted more than 80 million tons of waste from landfills. �鶹ԭ�� is home to 30 other LEED certified buildings, including the College of Medicine in Lake Nona, Dr. Phillips Academic Commons at �鶹ԭ�� Downtown and Classroom Building II on main campus.

“This is an exceptional accomplishment for both �鶹ԭ�� and HCA,” says Amy Pastor, USGBC Central Florida Board chair, who attended Friday’s announcement. “You are among the best and you will be known worldwide for this.”

“LEED was created to make the world a better place and revolutionize our buildings and communities by providing everyone with access to healthy, green and high performing buildings,” says Peter Templeton, president and CEO of USGBC. “�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital is a prime example of how the innovative work of project teams can create local solutions that contribute to making a global difference.”

New College of Nursing Building at Lake Nona Receives Approval

Heather Lovett — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 19:40:14 +0000

��’s would be able to graduate more nurses and nursing faculty, helping to combat the nation’s critical nursing shortage while fostering more innovation and collaboration with a new building at Lake Nona, Florida.

The Board of Trustees this week approved the use of state allocated funds to begin the planning and design phase for the projected 90,000-square-foot College of Nursing building at the �鶹ԭ�� Academic Health Sciences Campus in Lake Nona. With state allocated funding estimated to pay for less than half of the new building, the college will launch a strategic fundraising campaign to secure private support for the project.

“��’s College of Nursing leverages the innovation and collaboration our university is known for to educate the nurse caregivers, researchers and educators of tomorrow,” says President Alexander N. Cartwright. “We are incredibly excited to have our nursing students join our Academic Health Sciences Center in Lake Nona, and we look forward to increasing the excellence of our programs and our impact in our community through the partnerships and opportunities that this move will enable.”

“��’s College of Nursing leverages the innovation and collaboration our university is known for to educate the nurse caregivers, researchers and educators of tomorrow.” — Alexander N. Cartwright, �鶹ԭ�� president

“This is an incredible milestone for �鶹ԭ��, and we’re laser focused on moving from vision to reality,” says Mary Lou Sole, dean of the College of Nursing. “This is a transformational project that has wide-reaching impact for our region, and we will need the support of our entire community to help us reach our goal of educating more Knight nurses to positively impact more patient lives, and guide 21^st century healthcare.”

The new home of the College of Nursing will sit on the 50-acre property already home to the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine and the �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital. Preliminary plans include classrooms as well as state-of-the-art learning labs for health assessment, essential skills and virtual reality located in an expanded space for the College of Nursing’s accredited Simulation, Technology, Innovation & Modeling Center, an international leader in providing high-quality simulation experiences to prepare students for clinical practice.

The design also calls for new research space — to include wet and dry labs — along with a host of student study spaces. When the new building is complete, the College of Nursing will relocate from its current location in Research Park and will have almost double its current square footage.

The location at the �鶹ԭ�� Academic Health Sciences Campus will offer students and faculty new opportunities for collaboration and enhanced learning and research experiences.

An artist rendering of a skills lab inside the future �鶹ԭ�� College of Nursing Building in Lake Nona, Florida.

“Our longstanding partnerships with the healthcare providers in our region have been invaluable,” says Sole. “Being physically situated in this hub of healthcare innovation is going to offer a host of new possibilities for teaching and research.”

The new building is a much-needed investment for the region and the state, both of which are facing a critical healthcare worker shortage. The Florida Hospital Association projects a shortage of 37,400 RNs by 2035 and has actively advocated to increase the supply of quality faculty and campus resources for nursing programs. The association estimates that an additional 2,300 RNs are needed to enter the workforce each year to address the projected state shortage.

The College of Nursing currently educates more than 2,900 undergraduate and graduate students and awards approximately 800 degrees annually. Enrollment has grown more than 240% since 2003. In the last five years, the college has been forced to decline admission to more than 860 qualified applicants due to physical capacity limits.

�鶹ԭ�� already graduates the most newly licensed registered nurses annually than any other institution in the State University System, with approximately 260 Knight nurses entering the workforce each year. Once the building is complete and fully funded, the College of Nursing expects to increase enrollment for new nurses and future nurse educators, grow the number of existing �鶹ԭ�� faculty, and ultimately graduate an additional 150 new nurses annually to enter the healthcare industry — primarily in Florida.

Approximately 85% of �鶹ԭ�� nursing alumni live and work in Florida, and almost 60% live and work in the six-county Central Florida area.

�鶹ԭ�� College of Nursing Dean Mary Lou Sole

“The community is growing,” says Sole, who notes that Florida’s population is rising at rapid rates that exceed the national average. “Our population is also aging, which is increasing demand on our healthcare systems. As a region, we need to be able to provide high quality, compassionate care to all of our residents who live here now and those coming here in the future.”

That’s where more Knight nurses will help. ��’s nursing graduates are well prepared for clinical practice, consistently surpassing the national average on the licensure examination for RNs and nurse practitioners.

“As a region, we need to be able to provide high quality, compassionate care to all of our residents who live here now and those coming here in the future.” — Mary Lou Sole, �鶹ԭ�� College of Nursing dean

With additional faculty, staff and space, the college will also grow enrollment capacity for its doctoral and master’s degree programs. These programs help educate more advanced practice providers, nurse leaders and executives, and nurse educators who will fuel the pipeline of nursing faculty, which is essential for combating the nursing shortage.

“The ripple effects that a nurse educator has on the profession and patient lives are immeasurable,” says Sole. “They teach and mentor countless nursing students, year after year, who then go out and care for patients, and they conduct invaluable research to impact the health of communities.”

The College of Nursing has been leading the charge in educating the next generation of nurses since 1979 and is ranked among the best in the nation. It is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and recently was one of nine programs worldwide – the only one in Florida – to receive an endorsement from the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning.

The Florida Legislature allocated $29 million to �鶹ԭ�� during the 2022 legislative session for the new building. The total cost for the new building is estimated to be just under $64 million.

Once funding is secured and planning goals are met, the college will break ground on the new building, which is anticipated to open during the 2025-2026 academic year.

�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital Training Future Doctors, Nurses Sooner than Expected

SUHTLING WONG — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 13:40:54 +0000

Dozens of �鶹ԭ�� medical and nursing students have trained at �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital in its first year of operation — with more rotations planned.

Opened on March 1, 2021, the hospital is a joint venture between the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine and HCA Healthcare, the nation’s largest hospital organization. During that time it has gained national recognition among HCA hospitals for quality of care and patient satisfaction. And it has been steadily growing in its mission to be an educational site for �鶹ԭ�� healthcare students.

“We now have learners from all years of medical school training in obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, neurology, general surgery and emergency medicine. And our educational footprint will continue to grow as our hospital grows,” says Jeffrey LaRochelle, associate dean for academic affairs. “�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital is more than just another teaching hospital. It is a growing academic medical center that is being developed in concert with the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine from the foundation up.”

Katelyn Lewis

�鶹ԭ�� medical students Katelyn Lewis and Tyler Daprano watched for two years as the 18,000-square-foot, 64-bed hospital was built next to the College of Medicine. On its first day open, the hospital delivered twins and its birthing and delivery facilities were soon ready — earlier than anticipated — for �鶹ԭ�� medical and nursing students for learning.

Lewis was the first medical student to do her obstetrics/gynecology (OB/GYN) clerkship at the hospital, describing the experience as “exciting and exhilarating.” Within two short weeks she went from triaging and coaching patients to suturing, observing C-sections and assisting with deliveries.

“It was so nerve-wracking and emotional delivering a baby,” says Lewis, who stayed with her patients overnight offering support and comfort during long labors. “A lot of patients were around my age so I could relate to them. It was a great experience helping them through a difficult time.”

As a male, Deprano says he was nervous going into OB/GYN training and made sure to introduce himself to the patient and ask permission to attend the birth. He helped deliver three babies during his four-week rotation at �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital. His job was transitioning the baby from the doctor to the nurses and helping to clamp and cut the umbilical cord.

“The first thing on my mind was, don’t drop the baby and to support his head,” he says.

Tyler Daprano

Both students say the experience helped hone their clinical skills, and taught them to be more empathetic and understanding of a patient’s needs.

Kelly Peterson is one of more than 50 �鶹ԭ�� nursing students who have done clinical training at �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital.

“The most enjoyable part of my training was having the opportunity to go to the surgical unit and seeing a robotics surgery and being involved in the pre-op and postop nursing care for that patient,” she says. “The on-the-job experience gave me opportunities to do some direct patient care and learn how to coordinate resources for patients with complex needs.”

Students say they appreciated the eagerness of hospital staff to teach them and get feedback on the hospital as an educational site.

“It’s very student centric and everyone was so welcoming,” says Lewis of her attending physician and nurses. “All the physicians were so eager to teach, some had not worked with students before and were very supportive and guided me on what to do. I loved working with all the staff.”

“Having the hospital here is definitely going to be a draw for students,” says Deprano.

Wendy H. Brandon, the hospital’s leader, agreed.

“As our partnership between �鶹ԭ�� and HCA Healthcare grows, we look forward to impacting the community for years to come as we host future students and develop our healthcare professionals of tomorrow,” she says.

�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital Opens Full-service Acute-care Teaching Hospital

Wendy Sarubbi — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 14:04:24 +0000

The �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital (formerly the �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Medical Center) opened March 1, bringing full-service, acute care to the growing Lake Nona community in a hospital that will also train the next generation of healthcare providers and support innovative medical research.

Located next to the in Orlando’s Medical City, �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital provides 24/7 emergency care, comprehensive inpatient and outpatient hospital services, and is expected to serve more than 17,000 patients in its first year.

The hospital is also the centerpiece of ��’s new Academic Health Sciences Center, that one day will bring many of the university’s clinical training programs to Lake Nona and create more interprofessional medical education and research.

“Our new academic hospital will provide outstanding medical care to our community as it trains the next generation of healthcare leaders,” says �鶹ԭ�� President Alexander N. Cartwright during a virtual ribbon-cutting broadcast on Facebook Live. “This hospital helps create a new �鶹ԭ�� Academic Health Sciences Center at Lake Nona, where �鶹ԭ�� will train doctors, nurses, social workers, physical therapists and others to meet the medical needs of today. With this new hospital adjacent to the College of Medicine, our healthcare students will train together – and develop communication and teamwork skills to better serve their patients.”

The hospital is a joint venture between �鶹ԭ�� and HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division. HCA is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services, with more than 185 hospitals and 2,000+ sites of care in 21 states and the United Kingdom. HCA invested $175 million to build the hospital, which was created with no state funds. �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital stands to create more than 350 jobs, will provide $13.8 million a year in charity and uncompensated care, and will pay an estimated $1.4 million a year in local and state taxes.

It has 64 inpatient beds, a 20-bed emergency department, four operating rooms, a cardiac catheterization lab and six private birthing suites. Designed to meet the needs of the growing community, �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital has room to expand to 80 beds and is designed for future growth up to 500 beds. See additional features of the new hospital .

“The grand opening of �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital is the realization of a vision that will impact the community for years to come,” says Wendy H. Brandon, FACHE, the hospital’s chief executive officer. “With the rapid growth in Lake Nona, this community needed a hospital close to home. Our team looks forward to becoming more engaged in the region’s wellness and supporting Lake Nona’s commitment to health and well-being.”

As an academic hospital, �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital will have three missions – patient care, medical education and research. The hospital will serve as one of the multiple training sites for �鶹ԭ�� medical students. It will also partner with �鶹ԭ�� researchers and scientists from across the country to discover tomorrow’s treatments and cures. That partnership will be magnified by �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Cancer Center, a research and patient care facility opening next door to the hospital.

Such a hospital has always been the dream of the medical school’s founding dean, Deborah German, who is also ��’s vice president for health affairs.

“We needed a teaching hospital to accomplish our goals to be one of the nation’s premier 21^st century medical schools anchoring a Medical City that could one day be a global destination for education, research and patient care,” she said. “Today, we celebrate the next step in creating a healthcare hub in Lake Nona that will increase economic development and improve health for all.”

To learn more, please visit . To see more reactions to the hospital’s opening, visit .

PHOTOS: �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital Sneak Peek

Nicole Dudenhoefer ’17 | Photos by Rhiana Raymundo ’19 — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 15:14:45 +0000

On March 1, the �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital (formerly the Lake Nona Medical Center), which was developed in partnership with HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division, will begin to serve the local community and students at the College of Medicine.

Located at 6700 Lake Nona Blvd., the newly completed teaching hospital began development in October 2018. The hospital will provide 24/7 emergency care, a range of other healthcare services for an estimated 17,000 patients in its first year, as well as hands-on learning opportunities for �鶹ԭ�� medical students.

The facility has created 350 new jobs in the region, including positions for more than 250 physicians who specialize in areas such as primary care, cardiology, surgery, gastroenterology, obstetrics and gynecology, infectious disease, neurohealth sciences, and more.

The front entrance of the �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital (Photo courtesy of the �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital)

Natural lighting throughout the hospital adds to the welcoming feel. The bright lobby spaces and waitings rooms are oversized so that no patient feels crowded and to allow for physical distancing.

The 204,709-square-foot hospital has 64 patient beds and can accommodate up to 80 beds in the current space when needed. With the possibility of future expansions, up to 500 patient beds may be available in the hospital.

Emergency room exam spaces include moveable computers built into the walls to allow caregivers to quickly access patient information.

Patient beds feature an alarm function to provide reminders, such as stay in bed, that are also visible outside the rooms. The alarm includes an audio feature that can provide prompts in six different languages and will be programmed for each patients’ preference.

Each of the three floors of the facility has two classrooms that will benefit medical students, future residents and fellows at the College of Medicine.

A physical therapy room includes weights, exercise equipment, stairs and a mock car to help patients recovering from injuries.

The imaging center includes two CT scanners and a starry ceiling that provides an enhanced view for patients and references �鶹ԭ��’s motto of ‘Reach for the Stars’.

Four surgical suites are equipped with the latest technology and are closely located to the sanitization room, which allows medical staff to quickly access supplies and save time during procedures.

The DaVinci robotic assistant system is one piece of advanced technology that will be used to provide quality care for patients. This device facilitates minimally invasive surgeries.

Six birthing suites feature a patient bed for mom, bassinets for baby and a pull-out couch for a partner or family member. A TV in the room will also display updates on which medical providers have been in the room and what services they’ve provided, as well as the location of the patient so all interested parties can stay informed.

Cafe Refresh is located on the first floor and is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Chef Edwin Martinez, who previously served at The Boheme, will provide healthy, made-to-order meals.