9 Investigates: $10M plan to expand ORMC trauma center

ORLANDO, Fla. — There is a $10 million proposal to expand Central Florida's only level one trauma center at Orlando Regional Medical Center, 9 Investigates reporter Daralene Jones learned.

The plan was sent to potential donors who would help pay for the hospital’s expansion when responding to another mass casualty situation.

The five-page letter sent to potential donors discussed how much doctors at the hospital learned during and after the Pulse nightclub shooting.

According to the details in the proposal, it was during the June 12, 2016, shooting, in part, that hospital administrators realized the space is outdated.

The money would be used to expand the trauma bay area where patients are admitted into the hospital by ambulances. The area would have an adjustable or removable industrial grade curtain to protect patients’ privacy. There would also be enhancements and upgrades to the emergency room space.

The area was originally designed to treat about 1,000 trauma patients a year, which has also grown to 5,000 people that include patients from car accidents, shootings and fires.

Expansion to the trauma bay would include 10 additional treatment areas.

The emergency department treats between 230 to 320 patients a day, but potential donors were told the equipment dates back to 1995.

The hospital, for $297 million, was redesigned and renovated in 2015.

The 10-story tower has 245 rooms, and it's the technology and medical equipment that hospital administrators told donors they now need in the emergency department.

A spokesperson for Orlando Health told 9 Investigates that they were unfamiliar with the information sent to donors and could not comment.

Cox Media Group