The strategies Orlando Health uses to 'keep care local'

Orlando (Fla.) Health is working to expand access to care in 2025 through inpatient and outpatient projects aimed at meeting the growing needs of its communities.

The 125-bed Orlando Health Lake Mary (Fla.) Hospital opened in early January, featuring six operating rooms, three catheterization labs, a pharmacy and labor and delivery services. The facility also includes space to expand to 240 beds as demand grows.

In addition to inpatient care, Orlando Health is enhancing pediatric outpatient services with the construction of the $160 million Orlando Health Children's Pavilion on the campus of Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. The pavilion, which broke ground in 2024, will house more than 30 pediatric specialty services under one roof, enhancing access for families who currently travel to multiple locations for care. 

"This is probably something that we don't see, certainly in our region, but even across the Southeast," Brandon Burket, Orlando Health's vice president of value-based care and population health, told Becker's. "Importantly, it's on the campus of our state's leading children's hospital, so all your acute and outpatient services are aligned on one single campus for families, which makes it certainly more convenient and a 'one-stop shop' for families and for the patients that will be served there."

These projects align with Orlando Health's mission to enhance health and quality of life in the communities it serves, including newer markets such as Puerto Rico and Birmingham, Ala.

"[The communities] may be in Puerto Rico, they may be here in the states, or they may be somewhere else, but that's the job, and that's what we all signed up for," Martin Soto, MD, board chair of the Orlando Health Network, told Becker's.

These markets felt like natural extensions of Orlando Health's community, Mr. Burket said.

"Here in Central Florida, there's a lot of commerce that leaves those markets to get care elsewhere," he said. "We saw an opportunity, both on the island of Puerto Rico and in Central Alabama, to invest and build similar infrastructure to what we have here in Central Florida, to keep care local, while knowing that we have the hub here to take on a lot of the more quaternary and tertiary care needs that might not be met in those markets."

Orlando Health's growth, now spanning 14 counties across Central Florida, has been fueled by state dynamics, demographic growth and strong physician leadership, Mr. Burket said.

He also emphasized physician alignment as one of the system's strongest attributes.

"Everything we do is aligned around the Orlando Health Way objectives, and physician alignment cascades through every single one of them," he said. "We pride ourselves on being a 'best place to work' as well, so we're attracting not just excellent physicians, but great team members and business leaders as well."

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