South Lake Hospital in Clermont, Fla., broke ground earlier this month on a $13 million freestanding emergency department at the intersection of Lake, Orange, Osceola and Polk Counties, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The new facility is meant to increase access to emergency care for residents of those counties, who currently face lengthy commutes to get care.
"There'[ve] been lots of residential and commercial development, but no real movement in healthcare in the Four Corners area," hospital president John Moore told the Orlando Sentinel. "It'll mean residents will no longer have to drive across [U.S.] 192, or to South Lake [Hospital] 15 miles away or to Heart of Florida [Hospital] 16 miles south to get medical care."
The ED will be two stories and encompass 40,000 square feet. Staffed by board-certified physicians from South Lake Hospital, the facility will be named the Joe H. and Loretta Scott Health Pavilion. The Scotts, who founded Exploria Resorts, donated the property upon which the ED is being built.
Construction on the new ED is expected to be completed in August 2018.