Slated to open by the end of 2020, the hospital is a joint venture between UCF and HCA Healthcare that will provide care to the growing Lake Nona community while serving as a clinical research center and learning environment for medical students, residents and fellows.

Wendy Brandon, CEO of the new hospital, says the topping-out ceremony “marks a bright future for physicians, students and Central Florida residents. What you see today are the bones of our new hospital – Central Florida’s first teaching hospital.”

This week, construction workers placed the final 20-foot beam in the atrium of the UCF College of Medicine so faculty, staff and students could sign and write their well-wishes on it before placement.

Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and dean of the UCF College of Medicine, met with many of the 150 Layton Construction workers who were at the site for the ceremony. They wore black and gold T-shirts proclaiming, “BIG Things Are Happening – UCF Lake Nona Medical Center.” As she thanked them, German urged workers to sign the beam before it went up, “so we have your good work and your good name as part of the spirit of our hospital forever.”

The three-story hospital will open at 204,079 square feet with 64 beds and shelled space enabling expansion to 80 beds. It is authorized to grow to 500 beds without further state approval. At opening, the hospital will include a 20-bed Emergency Department open 24 hours a day, four operating rooms, six delivery suites, cardiac catheterization lab, comprehensive imaging and laboratory services, a medical office building and a destination café.

The hospital is located on 25 acres of UCF land next door to the UCF College of Medicine and adjacent to the new UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center being created at the former Sanford Burnham Prebys research facility.

“It’s a place where we will heal, treat and cure. Where we will care for each other.” — Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and dean of the UCF College of Medicine

“This site is really a kind of sacred ground,” German says. “It’s a place where we will heal, treat and cure. Where we will care for each other. That is truly a noble calling. And because we are a teaching hospital, as we do that work, we’ll also be training young people to do the same – to care for others. At the same time, we’ll be inspiring scientific discovery – advancing medical research to find tomorrow’s treatments and cures.”

A teaching hospital has always been part of the medical school’s dream for a Medical City in Lake Nona that is a nationally known destination for education, research and patient care. The hospital is the foundation of UCF’s new Academic Health Sciences Center, which brings together all of the university’s health-related programs for more interprofessional education, research and patient care.

With those words – from Michael Joyce, president of HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division – university and HCA leaders, faculty physicians, medical students and community leaders broke ground Thursday for UCF Lake Nona Medical Center.

The UCF-HCA joint venture hospital will open in late 2020 on 25 acres across from the UCF .

About 500 guests attended the groundbreaking event, which began with an early morning rainbow.

“[The UCF-HCA Hospital will] make Orlando a destination for how health and wellness should be taught and practiced in the 21^st ł¦±đ˛ÔłŮłÜ°ů˛â.” – UCF President Dale Whittaker

UCF President Dale Whittaker says the hospital embodies a bold, collaborative spirit that will “make Orlando a destination for how health and wellness should be taught and practiced in the 21^st ł¦±đ˛ÔłŮłÜ°ů˛â.”

The hospital groundbreaking came eleven years and 22 days after university and community leaders broke ground for the UCF College of Medicine as the anchor of an emerging Medical City at Lake Nona.

“A teaching hospital was part of our dream that day,” says Dr. Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and founding dean. “On Oct. 3, 2007, we didn’t know who our partner would be or how we would build such a hospital. But we knew then what we know today – that we needed a teaching hospital to accomplish our goal to be one of the nation’s premier 21^st century medical schools, anchoring a Medical City that could one day be a global destination.”

The hospital will be just a few steps from a new UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center that will be created in the former Sanford Burnham Prebys research facility. And it will be the cornerstone for UCF’s new Academic Health Sciences Center that will eventually bring many of the university’s health-related programs to Lake Nona.

Wendy Brandon, the new CEO of UCF Lake Nona Medical Center, says the new academic hospital will incorporate medical education, research and patient care. “Our hospital will be a place that not only provides healing for our patients but also educates the healthcare providers of the future and supports the work of brilliant researchers that will lead to lifesaving care,” she says.

UCF medical students applauded the role the hospital will play in preparing them as future physicians. UCF and HCA are already partnering to create residency programs across North Central and Central Florida and soon will expand those graduate medical education programs to Pensacola. Ultimately, the new hospital will have its own residents but will provide clerkship training for third- and fourth-year medical students from the time it opens.

“The UCF Lake Nona Medical Center will allow us to give back to and serve the community that has embraced us so warmly.” – Kevin Petersen, medical student

“The UCF Lake Nona Medical Center will allow us to give back to and serve the community that has embraced us so warmly,” says medical student Kevin Petersen, Student Council president for the Class of 2021. “Today, we are one step closer to creating a healthier tomorrow… the UCF way.”

In preparation for his remarks, Petersen did an online survey of all 490 current UCF College of Medicine students and asked what the new hospital meant to each. He created a framed image of the hospital rendering with some of the students’ quotes and presented it to Dr. German “to thank you for believing in your dream and for believing in us… and also to remind you of the inspiration you provide all of us students on a daily basis.”

With the groundbreaking ceremony finished, construction of the hospital will begin. The hospital’s foundation will be poured by January. The three-story hospital will open at 204,079 square feet with 64 beds and shelled space enabling expansion to 80 beds. UCF Lake Nona Medical Center is authorized to grow to 500 beds without further state approval.

The hospital is a joint venture between HCA Healthcare and UCF Academic Health, a direct service organization of the university. HCA is spending $175 million to build and begin operating the hospital. No state dollars are being used.

To see a video version of this story, visit 

With more than two decades of experience in healthcare leadership, Brandon has served for 10 years as CEO of HCA’s Central Florida Regional Hospital, a 221-bed facility in Sanford. Her achievements include overseeing the launch of the hospital’s Level II Trauma Center, opening the region’s first freestanding emergency department and leading the development of Oviedo Medical Center. Previously, she led Englewood Community Hospital in HCA’s West Florida Division.

“Wendy is a seasoned, dynamic leader who has played a pivotal role in our partnership with UCF at Lake Nona, and we are excited to have her lead our newest hospital in the Central Florida region,” said Michael P. Joyce, FACHE, President of HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division. “Under her leadership, we will advance healthcare in Lake Nona Medical City, improve quality of life for the community and provide education that ignites careers in medicine at UCF Lake Nona Medical Center.”

UCF Lake Nona Medical Center, a joint venture between HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division and UCF Academic Health, is being built adjacent to the UCF College of Medicine in Lake Nona’s emerging Medical City and will operate as a community-based teaching hospital. Facility plans will include clinical research and a 21st century learning environment for medical students, future residents and fellows. The UCF and HCA Healthcare Graduate Medical Education Consortium opened 22 residency and fellowship programs in the last two years to address Florida’s physician shortage and are now training about 350 residents in specialties including internal medicine, psychiatry and surgery.

“Through partnership, UCF and HCA Healthcare are providing a new, academic approach to patient care at UCF Lake Nona Medical Center,” said Dr. Deborah German, Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean of the UCF College of Medicine. “Wendy Brandon has the experience, knowledge and community focus to help us lead that effort.”

Brandon earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of Tennessee at Martin and her MBA from The Jack C. Massey School of Business at Belmont şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą. She serves in leadership roles on the Orlando Economic Partnership Board, CareerSource Central Florida Board, the Sanford Rotary Club and Seminole County Regional Chamber of Commerce Board. She recently chaired the Seminole State College District Board of Trustees. Among numerous awards, she was named Orlando Business Journal’s 2017 Businesswoman of the Year and 2015 CEO of the Year honoree.

“UCF Lake Nona Medical Center is the result of a mission shared by HCA Healthcare and UCF to care for and improve human life,” Brandon said. “I couldn’t be more honored by this exciting opportunity to build and lead a talented, dedicated team that will expand access to healthcare and train tomorrow’s physicians.”

The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) this week gave final certificate of need approval for a 100-bed medical and surgical hospital that officials hope will be open for patients by the end of 2020.

HCA North Florida Division will contribute $175 million to build and begin operating the hospital, called UCF Lake Nona Medical Center. UCF will provide the land and its strong academic brand. No state dollars will be used to build the facility.

“Together with our partners at HCA, we look forward to strengthening our community’s health, training more doctors and powering economic growth through research,” said UCF President John C. Hitt, who has described building the hospital as one of the university’s most important decisions of this decade.

A hospital to advance teaching and clinical research programs has been a UCF priority since the university opened its medical school in 2009. “This hospital and its research mission are part of the economic impact we promised the community when the medical school was built,” said Dr. Deborah German, founding dean of the College of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs. “In the United States and around the world, the best health systems have an academic component at their heart and the best medical schools have teaching hospitals. UCF Lake Nona Medical Center will help Central Florida become a national, then global healthcare destination that will benefit all of our partners and our community.”

The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s 12 public universities, approved the public-private hospital in March after AHCA had given the facility preliminary certificate of need approval.

UCF and HCA’s partnership began in 2015 when they formed a consortium that is building needed residency programs in Central and North Central Florida. In the last two years, that partnership has opened 14 new residency programs and one new fellowship in HCA’s North Florida Division hospitals located in Gainesville, Kissimmee and Ocala. Those programs are now providing graduate medical education to 250 physicians, and hope to have 600 physicians in training by 2020 to help address Florida’s physician shortage.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with UCF in the development of a new hospital in Lake Nona. Orlando is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, and growing to meet the region’s needs through new facilities and services in the coming years is a strategic priority for HCA North Florida,” said Michael P. Joyce, FACHE, president of HCA’s North Florida Division. “As one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers, we look forward to extending our resources, expertise and focus on excellent patient care to further enhance Central Florida’s quality of life.”

The Board of Governors’ approval allows UCF to grow the hospital to up to 500 beds without further approval from that board. The hospital will train third- and fourth-year M.D. students from day one; allow the medical school to expand its clinical research mission; provide more opportunities for residency programs; and be a living-learning lab for training medical, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy and social work students in teamwork skills and communication.

UCF Lake Nona Medical Center, which will be built adjacent to the UCF College of Medicine, is a public-private partnership with UCF Academic Health, a direct support organization to the university, and the North Florida Division of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), the nation’s largest hospital company.

Focused on providing healthcare services to the community as well as education and research, the hospital will help the College of Medicine increase residencies and clinically based research, and ultimately help build Medical City into more of a healthcare destination providing first-class health care.

The hospital “will fulfill our promise to become a hub of innovation and a healthier Orlando,” said UCF Board of Trustees Chairman Marcos Marchena.

“The aspirations that we have worked on from day one are that we would have a first-rate, top-tier medical school. It is clear to me that we need a hospital if we are going to achieve our highest ambitions for the medical college,” said UCF President John C. Hitt.

Under the agreement, HCA will spend $175 million in cash to build and begin operations of a 100-bed hospital. No state money will be used and UCF will not incur any debt. UCF and HCA will share governance, each appointing four members to the hospital board.

Dr. Deborah German, vice president for medical affairs and founding dean of the College of Medicine, said the hospital is necessary for UCF to deliver on the economic development promises it made when the college was approved more than 10 years ago. “In the United States and around the world, the best health systems have an academic component at their heart and the best medical schools have hospitals,” she said.

In 2012, the university purchased the land in Medical City and began seeking partners. Last summer, UCF formally invited hospitals nationwide to submit partnership proposals. HCA, Florida Hospital and Orlando Health did. In September, UCF trustees approved a partnership with HCA, citing its nationwide hospital operations experience, financial strength and extensive research programs.

“We are grateful to the Board of Governors for their approval and very excited to move forward in building a community-based teaching facility,” said Michael P. Joyce, FACHE, President of HCA’s North Florida Division. “Today marks a milestone for all of us at HCA. This investment benefits the future physicians we’re privileged to train, as well as the entire Lake Nona community. It also allows us to expand our footprint in the Orlando area, making healthcare more accessible for Central Floridians.”

Lake Nona is one of the Top 10 fastest-selling master-planned communities in the United States and the fastest-selling in Orlando. More than 1,000 families are moving to Lake Nona every year.