WFTV tours new Nemours Children's Hospital; set to open Oct. 2012

LAKE NONA, Fla.,None — The Nemours Children's Hospital won't open its doors to the public until 2012. The new hospital is located in Orlando's emerging Medical City in Lake Nona. And Monday, WFTV got a first look inside.

The hospital will employ 500 physicians, nurses and support staff, along with some new partners.

WFTV was invited inside for a first look inside the new $380 million hospital. It was designed with the direct input of parents that include Lori Paul, whose son Max is a Nemours patient.

Max has cystic fibrosis, a condition that makes it difficult to break down and absorb food. It also means frequent doctor's visits.

"My child is seen every three months," Paul said.

By next fall, the visits will happen inside a Nemours clinic on the 60-acre property.

Should Max have to be admitted, one of the hospital's 95 rooms will be steps away. The rooms are larger than many hotel suites -- one is 385 square feet.

"The corners on a lot of the furniture have been rounded here near the daybed," Paul said.

There's also added storage space, and doors wide enough to accommodate a diagnostic equipment.

The construction was funded through loans and an endowment from the Alfred I. Dupont Trust.

Nemours is about to become part of a larger medical city that includes the VA Medical Center, the UCF College of Medicine, the Sanford Burnham Institute and a University of Florida research facility.

"If it weren't for the medical city we wouldn't be able to recruit the world-class physicians we're able to recruit," Nemours CEO Roger Oxendale said.

The physicians include an expert in neuromuscular diseases, and a physician and researcher of arthritis in children.

"Our view of it, really, is a gift to this community, a gift to kids and families and ultimately all of us that live in the greater Orlando area," Oxendale said.

Construction is now considered 70 percent to 75 percent complete. There is still some trim, paint and electrical work that must completed.

The construction phase for the new Nemours Children Hospital alone will have have created more than 5,000 jobs, $166 million in wages and $700 million in economic activity.

WFTV has been invited back for the hospital's October 2012 opening.

WFTV