Orlando Health announced new construction plans for its Horizon West hospital

HORIZON WEST Great chess players think several moves ahead.

Likewise, ambitious companies do the same.

Even though its new hospital in Horizon West has yet to open, Orlando Health already is onto phase two of its new West Orange project.

Located near the intersection of Avalon and Porter roads, the second phase will include a six-level, nearly 190,000-square-foot hospital with a capacity of 103 acute-care beds. The hospital will include an intensive-care unit, women and children services, a catheterization laboratory and an operating room. The hospital also will be equipped with air transport services to transport patients needing a higher level of care to nearby hospitals. 

Construction on this second phase is expected to begin in early 2018, and the project will take an estimated 21 months to complete.

“Horizon West, and West Orange in general, is one of the fastest growing (communities) in the state,” Health Central Hospital COO Rick Smith said. “So, to provide health care services out there is ease of access close to home. We feel like in that area, the facilities will be needed.”

In addition to the building construction, Porter and Avalon roads will undergo construction to accommodate traffic flow into and out of the hospital, Smith said.

Construction on phase one is currently in progress, which includes a two-story, 80,000-square-foot facility with an emergency department, imaging lab, pharmacy and physician offices. Construction on phase one is scheduled to be completed in September 2018. 

“I think everyone is particularly excited to have something that is close to their own community,” Smith said.

Contact Brittany Gaines at [email protected].