Officials in Lakeland, Fla., approved conditions allowing Lakeland Regional Health to double the size of its medical facilities to 300,000 square feet, making way for a freestanding hybrid emergency department and urgent care center, according to a Sept. 21 report from The Ledger.
Lakeland Regional Health also secured the conditional right to build a group home or nursing home on the site. However, it currently does not own or operate any similar facilities.
Patrick Phillips, Lakeland Regional Health's senior vice president of business development and chief strategy officer, said the organization wants to impact community patient care.
"We looked at the needs on the north side of Lakeland and there is a gap in emergency medicine services offered, so we want to make sure to bring those services closer," Mr. Phillips said.
Mr. Phillips told The Ledger that construction has begun on the site's first 76,300-square-foot medical building. It will serve as the hospital's future Graduate Medical Education program's hub for family medicine residents. He anticipates the building will be finished by the fall of 2023.