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AdventHealth is planning a 400-bed, 10-story hospital with a helicopter pad in a complex that would also include 204,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and a 250-unit apartment complex — all on more than 200 acres south of the Polk Parkway and Frontage Road, east of Harden Boulevard and north of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School.
The hospital proposal also includes a free-standing emergency room, 200,000 square feet of medical offices, rehabilitation facilities, structured parking and a central energy plant.
The plan was discussed during the Lakeland City Commission’s agenda study session on Friday morning.
What is AdventHealth? AdventHealth is a Christian health treatment company based in Altamonte Springs. It has 51 hospitals and hundreds of care sites in markets throughout nine states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. It employs more than 92,000 caregivers in physician practices, hospitals, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and hospice centers.
Traffic concerns: Some commissioners expressed concern that traffic in the already congested interchange would become unpassable until a long-planned north-south thoroughfare — the Wabash Boulevard expansion — is completed west of Harden Boulevard.
“This gives me great pause from a traffic management standpoint,” said Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley. “This is giving me a little bit of heartburn. Not because we don’t need it and medical isn’t important — it absolutely is. But when I look at that thoroughfare right now and travel that … when you come off the parkway it’s already really congested to get to Harden Boulevard.”
Traffic by the numbers: A traffic study within the proposal shows Harden Boulevard north of the Polk Parkway has an annual average daily traffic volume of 40,000 vehicles, with 1,454 northbound and 1,397 southbound vehicles during the two-hour afternoon rush hour. The segment of Harden Boulevard between the Polk Parkway and West Pipkin Road has an average of 22,600 vehicles, with 789 southbound and 821 northbound vehicles during the afternoon rush hour.
Wild hogs: The site plan also includes 61 acres of conservation — meaning the land will remain in a natural state.
Transportation and Planning Director Chuck Barmby mentioned an issue most people don’t think of inside the city limits: wild hogs. At a planning and zoning meeting, residents voiced concerns that the animals are being forced out of their habitat and into nearby neighborhoods where they cause damage.
“Some of them (are) actually being trapped in cages on those private properties,” Barmby said. “It wasn’t something that we were really expecting.”
He added that the developer is investigating the issue and seeking solutions. Wild hogs are not a protected species in Florida.
360-degree view: The proposed development sits to the west and south of the Lockheed Martin site along Frontage Road. The apartments are planned for acreage between the proposed hospital and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School.
Second apartment complex: In Oct. 2022, a nearby site was approved for an apartment complex, east of the Lockheed Martin office building and west of an established neighborhood. In addition, that complex was increased from 152 units to 288 units. Commissioner Bill “Tiger” Read noted there are not enough parking spaces and voted against it.
Another apartment complex is currently under construction south of the Parkway, west of Harden Boulevard.
McCarley said although she is not opposed to growth, she feels like things are happening too quickly before the infrastructure is in place.
“I feel like we continue to approve different things and not having those arteries to really pull what we already have…,” McCarley said. “If anyone tries to travel Harden south in the evening and then it becomes a raceway to go all the way to Pipkin.”
Medical facility boom: It is the third hospital to announce plans or begin building within the city limits in recent years. In 2020, the city commission OK’ed Orlando Health’s seven-story hospital south of the Polk Parkway off Lakeland Highlands Road. Two years later, it doubled the number of beds it wanted for the facility to 302, with 30 intensive care and progressive care rooms.
A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinic recently opened in that same area to treat the area’s military veterans.
Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center recently opened a freestanding emergency room and doctors’ offices on Kathleen Road at I-4. And LRHMC is building a freestanding emergency room in south Lakeland, off South Florida Avenue near Christina. The hospital also opened The Harrell Family Center for Behavioral Health last year, doubling its capacity to treat mental health patients.
Zoning change: Property owner Drummond Company needs a zoning change for part of the land from suburban corridor and suburban neighborhood to suburban special purpose. The city’s planning and zoning board has already recommended approving that change. The rezoning is coming before the city commission on Tuesday for a first reading and is currently scheduled to be voted on Sept. 16.
Commissioner Chad McLeod requested that the property’s developer attend Tuesday’s meeting to answer questions.
Correction: Sara Roberts McCarley’s name was misspelled in an earlier edition of this story.
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The extension of Harden Blvd. to South Florida Avenue has been planned for years but has not received the priority it deserves from the city , county and the state . I have been hearing about the Harden Blvd. extension long before the Wabash North South Route was proposed. In fact I suggested that Harden Blvd. extension be completed before the State started screwing around with South Florida Avenue. So now the pressure is on to get the County and State to prioritize Harden Blvd. extension and we should not let some wild pigs stop the construction of a Hospital.
I’d rather wait in a little traffic than be told there are no hospital beds available.
As a person who works in the hospital system, and as someone who lives very close to this vicinity, this hospital is simply a money grab and is not necessary at all. This area is now home to LRMC, Orlando Health, two Baycare facilities less than 20 min away (SF Baptist and Bartow Regional), and several free standing ERs- why do we need MORE hospitals? The ones we have are already meeting the populations needs. The damage to the environment and residential properties is enough of a reason to oppose this monstrosity.
Lakeland is not large enough to need multiple 400+ bed hospitals with helipads. Advent Health is a great system, but they are just trying to get a hospital built to grab medical revenue. The area is not large enough to support all the beds and many of them will sit empty. I hope the community comes together to stop it from being built, just like the HCA they tried to put up off 540A a few years ago on the Judds old property. I know I will vehemently oppose this in my community.