Hospital in Lake Nona – Dr. Deborah German’s dream of having a teaching hospital for her medical school is now a reality.
On Thursday, the medical school confirmed that the state has given the hospital plan its final approval. Construction is expected to begin within 18 months.
It was only last year that German, founding dean of UCF College of Medicine, put out a bid for a partner to build a hospital next to the medical school in Lake Nona. Of the three local applicants, she and her board settled on HCA, a large national for-profit chain, which owns and operates several hospitals in Central Florida.
UCF and HCA applied for and received the state’s certificate of need approval for a 100-bed medical and surgical hospital late last year, but Florida Hospital appealed the decision, bouncing it to a hearing process.
Florida Hospital dropped its appeal on July 12, according to state documents and the state Agency for Health Care Administration issued a final approval on July 24.
“In the United States and around the world, the best health systems have an academic component at their heart and the best medical schools have teaching hospitals,” said German, in a news release. “UCF Lake Nona Medical Center will help Central Florida become a national, then global healthcare destination that will benefit all of our partners and our community.”
The hospital is expected to open in 2020.
nmiller@orlandosentinel.com, @naseemmiller