LAKELAND, Fla. — A new hospital in Lakeland is now open and receiving patients.
Orlando Health Watson Clinic Lakeland Highlands Hospital officially opened at 9 a.m. Wednesday, hospital officials said.
The hospital is the first new hospital to open in Lakeland in more than a century, according to Orlando Health. It is also Orlando Health’s 50th facility in Florida.
The seven-story hospital sits on more than 77 acres and includes 306 private patient rooms.
The facility also includes 49 exam rooms, five fast-track rooms, 20 observation beds, 13 operating rooms, two heart catheterization labs and a ground-level helicopter pad.
Hospital officials said the facility will also include eight labor and delivery beds, 28 postpartum beds and 12 neonatal intensive care beds. The NICU is expected to open in the coming months.
Carlos Carrasco, president of Orlando Health Watson Clinic Lakeland Highlands Hospital, called the opening “an exciting day in Polk County.”
“Our experienced and dedicated physicians and staff are ready and looking forward to serving this community,” Carrasco said in a statement.
The hospital is a collaboration between Orlando Health and Watson Clinic.
Watson Clinic CEO Jason Hirsbrunner said the hospital will build on the clinic’s 85 years of serving patients in the Lakeland area.
The hospital is also expected to have a major economic impact. Orlando Health said up to 700 construction jobs were created during the project, along with more than 1,500 permanent jobs.
Another 200 jobs are expected to be added by the end of the year when Orlando Health opens a freestanding emergency department in North Lakeland.
Hospital officials said the new employees include about 600 nurses and 75 physicians new to the market.
According to the Lakeland Economic Development Council, the hospital is now the sixth-largest employer in Lakeland. It is the 15th-largest employer in Polk County, according to the Central Florida Development Council.
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