Health
Two Freestanding ERs Will Compete With Lakeland Regional
It won’t be long before Lakeland residents facing a medical emergency will have choices:
- In south Lakeland, a small freestanding emergency room on Florida Avenue planned by HCA.
- In northeast Lakeland, a slightly larger freestanding emergency room just west of Florida Polytechnic University planned by Adventist.
- North of downtown, Lakeland Regional Health’s massive emergency department with its pediatric ER and a trauma center.
Document Reveals Plans for a South Lakeland ER
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.
$25M Skilled Nursing Center Planned for Lake Gibson Village
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.
New Tradition: Dreadnaught Wave Cheers Up Sick Children
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.
Lakeland Regional Health and Orlando Health Part Ways
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.
FSC Plans a Doctor of Physical Therapy Program
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.
Lakeland’s First Marijuana Dispensary Opens
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.
Raw Sewage Spills Into Lake Parker
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 Tours LRH Women’s and Children’s Wing
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.