LAKE NONA, Fla. – A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the future site of the University of Central Florida Lake Nona Medical Facility.
The facility will be a joint-venture hospital and training facility for future physicians and clinical researchers. It's the first of its kind, and teams up the University of Central Florida College of Medicine and HCA Healthcare.
Dr. Deborah German, Dean of the UCF Medical College, said the full service hospital will provide all types of medical care to the community.
"It'll start small, but we'll have everything, surgery, labor and delivery, all of the things that a typical hospital has, and as it grows we'll add on those specialty centers that many health centers do get," German said.
The hospital will continue to elevate Lake Nona as a growing medical hub. Commissioner Jim Gray said the area already draws medical professionals worldwide with higher paying jobs.
"In today's world, everybody's chasing high quality employees, employees are what make company plans work and their employees love this lifestyle. It's the consummate live, work, play environment," Gray said.
The medical facility will also eventually support a cancer research center. Locally, scientists are already doing the work, but this will provide them with more resources.
"Without the clinical branch, they're unable to take their discoveries to the bedside, to the patient. With the hospital and with the cancer center that we're building our scientists will be able to discover in the full spectrum of cancer," German said.
The hospital is expected to open in late 2020.