UCF, HCA break ground on teaching hospital in Lake Nona

It was on Oct. 3, 2007, that Dr. Deborah German donned a construction hat, grabbed a shovel and broke ground at an empty field in a corner of Lake Nona’s Medical City, kicking off the construction of the UCF College of Medicine.

Today, that medical school has trained 490 future doctors, and now some of those students will get a chance to learn their craft at yet another new building in Medical City: A new teaching hospital perched next to the medical school.

On Thursday, German once again put on a white construction hat, grabbed a shovel with a golden blade and ceremoniously dug into a pile of dirt at a large field of grass that will become UCF Lake Nona Medical Center by late 2020.

“This was a critical missing piece to our puzzle,” said German, founding dean of UCF College of Medicine.

Establishing this teaching hospital has been part of German’s vision to create a premier medical school in Orlando.

“It took a little longer than I had hoped, but a lot shorter than I had feared and we found just the right partner,” she said.

Earlier this year, UCF inked a deal with HCA Healthcare, a large national hospital chain, to establish the teaching hospital.

HCA North Florida is building the $175 million teaching hospital and will have 80 percent equity in it.

UCF is providing the land and its brand, with a 20 percent equity.

Wendy Brandon, the current CEO of Central Florida Regional Hospital, was named the CEO of the new hospital in September.

HCA officials are projecting that the 64-bed hospital will have a total operating revenue of $71 million in its first year, which will gradually increase to $89 million by its fifth year.

“It's the fulfillment of a life’s dream,” said former UCF President John Hitt, who attended the ceremony before heading to his new home in Wisconsin. “This is a wonderful development, not just for UCF but for all of Central Florida and all of Florida. We hope with the development of further research, we can have a worldwide impact.”

Having a new hospital in Lake Nona and in partnership with the medical school holds varying kinds of promise for those who attended the ground-

THE JILLS/COURTESY PHOTOS Former Formula One and IndyCar race-car driver Enrique Bernoldi’s luxury condominium on Fisher Island has three bedrooms, three full and one half bathrooms and a private elevator.

NASEEM MILLER/ORLANDO SENTINEL UCF and HCA celebrate the groundbreaking of a teaching hospital in Lake Nona on Thursday.