UCF teaching hospital in Lake Nona gets OK
Dr. Deborah German’s dream of having a teaching hospital for her medical school is now a reality.
On Thursday, the medical school confirmed that the state has given the 100-bed medical and surgical hospital plan its final approval.
Construction is expected to begin within 18 months on the facility, which will be called the UCF Lake Nona Medical Center.
“In 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,” said German, founding dean of the medical school, in a news release. “UCF 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.”
It was only last August that the University of Central Florida put out a bid for a partner to build a teaching hospital next to its medical school in Lake Nona, a move that UCF President John Hitt described as one of the university’s most important decisions of this decade.
Of the three local applicants, including Florida Hospital and Orlando Health, the university chose HCA, a large national for-profit chain, which owns and operates several hospitals in Central Florida. The two entities already had a relationship through their joint residency programs.
Before breaking ground, they needed to get the state Agency for Health Care Administration’s approval through the certificate of need process.
HCA, in partnership with UCF, applied for and received the state’s approval in December.
The state’s Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system, also approved the plan.
But Florida Hospital appealed the state health agency’s decision, triggering a hearing process.
Florida Hospital officials said at the time that they weren’t opposed to a new hospital, rather, they said the language in the certificate of need wasn’t specific enough. They said they wanted to make sure that the new HCA facility is going to be built on UCF land and that it’s going to be a teaching hospital involving UCF and not turn into a standalone community hospital.
HCA officials have been adamant throughout the process that building a teaching hospital in partnership with UCF has been their primary goal. On July 12, Florida Hospital voluntarily dropped its appeal according to state documents, and the Agency for Health Care Administration issued its final approval July 24.
HCA is investing $175 million to build and start operating UCF Lake Nona Medical Center. UCF will provide the land and brand. No state dollars will be used to build the facility, officials said.
The hospital has room to expand into a 500-bed facility. UCF won’t need the Board of Governor’s approval for future growth.
“Orlando is one of the fastestgrowing metropolitan areas in the country, and growing to meet the region’s needs through new facilities and services in the coming years is a strategic priority for HCA North Florida,” said Michael Joyce, president of HCA’s North Florida Division, in a news release.
The hospital is expected to open by the end of 2020.