An environmental permit application shows a free-standing, 10,920-square-foot emergency room is planned on South Florida Avenue across from Merchants Walk, Tampa Bay Business Journal reports. The 1.71 acres between Pinellas Street and Eastway Drive have been purchased by Zack 1030 LLC of Nashville.
NOTE: An earlier version of this summary incorrectly indicated that the facility was associated with Lakeland Regional Health.
A $25 million skilled nursing center planned for north Lakeland’s Lake Gibson Village is a “pivotal piece” in “building out the entire continuum of care” for senior residents, CEO Renee Tucker said. The facility on nine acres purchased by Greystone Healthcare Management of Tampa is expected to open in 2020.
The LHS Dreadnaughts pulled a move from the University of Iowa playbook. At home games, the crowd at Bryant Stadium pauses to wave lighted cellphones toward children and teens watching from the new pediatrics wing at Lakeland Regional Health. Team members also visit young hospital patients on game day.
The affiliation ends Sept. 30, 364 days after it began. “After serious deliberation, Orlando Health has decided to release Lakeland Regional Health from our health system in exchange for significant financial and strategic consideration, effective Sept. 30,” Orlando Health spokeswoman Kena Lewis told Orlando Business Journal. “Orlando Health looks forward to expanding our interests and developing new opportunities in Polk County.”
Lakeland Regional board chair Laura Hawley said they separation will have no effect on patients. “This new direction will have no impact on our ability to deliver high quality services and we remain more committed than ever to the patients and communities in and surrounding Polk County,” Laura Hawley, board chairman of the Lakeland Regional Medical Center/Health System, said in a prepared statement quoted in The Ledger.
Citing community health needs, Florida Southern College is investing $6 million — its highest ever for a new academic program — to launch a doctor of physical therapy program in fall 2019.
A 4:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting today at a strip shopping near I-4 marked the official opening of Lakeland’s first medical marijuana dispensary. Curaleaf opened last week in the Market Square center on U.S. 98 that also includes Just Moves Gym and Guitar Center. It is part of an expanding company that advertises same-day or next-day delivery throughout Florida.
Residents were warned against fishing and swimming in Lake Parker today after up to 400,000 gallons of raw sewage poured into the west side of the lake near Valencia Street and Lake Parker Drive. The spill was caused when tree stump removers accidentally broke a pressurized sewage line. It will be Friday morning before the extent of damage is calculated, and city officials said they expect vegetation in the spill area to minimize long-term environmental damage.
LakelandMom.com’s April Mucci took an advance tour of Lakeland Regional Health’s Carol Jenkins Barnett Pavilion for Women & Children, which opens next week, and shares a parent’s perspective on the eight-floor facility.
Jay Care Medical Center (web), a five-clinic practice based in Lakeland, and its affiliate, Parkview Medical Group, have been acquired by Palm Medical Centers (web), a Miami-based company associated with private equity firm MBF Healthcare Partners, Tampa Bay Business Journal reports. “Jay Care will serve as the foundation for our growth strategy in Central Florida as we continue to partner with other providers and leverage our experience in the managed care space,” Palm Medical Centers CEO Juan Ortiz said in a statement.
Rachel Saintfort, who was inspired to lose weight to make her daughter proud, was one of five women who were featured by People magazine for losing more than 100 pounds each. Saintfort tracked her progress on Instagram.
