Health Central tops out on bed tower expansion

OCOEE -- Myriad Orlando Health officials and community members gathered at 10 a.m. Sept. 3 for the topping-off ceremony at Health Central Hospital.

This milestone indicates finished vertical construction on the hospital's expansion construction from its northern side. The ground floor will become part of an emergency department triple the size of the prior one, and the other floors will house 40 new patient rooms, making every bedroom private, Health Central Hospital President Greg Ohe said.

"Twenty-two of these rooms will be used to enhance or develop specialized care units," he said. "The room additions on the second floor will be used for our post-cardiac and vascular catheterization patients and the continued expansion of technology in our cardiovascular service line. The third floor will be home to the step-down unit for our orthopedic and spine patients."

The emergency department will expand, becoming more than 50,000 square feet with 52 beds in one area, whereas it now has 42 beds in two areas, Ohe said.

The fourth floor will be an oncology unit for cancer care, and the fifth floor will house general surgery patients before and after operation, especially those with multiple chronic conditions, Ohe said.

Tracy Swanson, executive director of the West Orange Healthcare District, mentioned how a $13.8 million grant for this project was the second largest in District history, funding 75% of total expansion costs, in addition to a $25 million award to expand the emergency department. Orlando Health funded the rest.

About 1.3 million pounds of steel, more than 1,200 pieces of steel and about 30,000 man hours went into the vertical construction of the tower, project manager Jason Morgan, of Charles Perry Partners, said.

The scheduled completion time is fall 2016.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].