Last week the staff of the Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital Emergency Department welcomed Emergency Medical Services first responders from the St. Cloud and Osceola County Fire Departments to tour their recently expanded emergency room.
The 18 new treatment rooms significantly increase the hospital’s emergency room capacity. The treatment rooms are intended for less severe emergency cases, such as burns, wounds, and high fevers, which do not necessarily require a bed and access to the most sophisticated equipment.
“Being able to place some patients into treatment rooms helps to ensure we have the existing fully equipped ER rooms available for the more severe cases as they come in. It improves our capability to handle patients, enables us to treat them more efficiently, and provides a better experience for the patients,” said Michelle French, RN, the hospital’s Emergency Department Director.
With the rapid population growth across Osceola County, and especially in the St. Cloud area, medical treatment facilities have been adding new infrastructure and expanding existing facilities to keep pace. Earlier in 2024, HCA Florida opened a standalone Emergency Room facility on the east end of St. Cloud at U.S. Highway 192 and Narcoossee Road.
Having adequate medical capacity in the St. Cloud area also helps the efficiency of the emergency medical services departments that serve the St. Cloud area. When emergency medical facilities exceed their capacities, ambulance crews must either transport patients to other facilities in Kissimmee or Orange County or simply wait at the hospital until their patients can be admitted.
“We have not seen some of the difficulties experienced in the past in quite some time, with these additional resources in the community,” said Alicia Schwan, Assistant Chief of EMS for the St. Cloud Fire Rescue Department, taking part in Wednesday’s tour.
Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital has been consistently building and expanding its facilities for the last several years. Additional cardiac care capabilities are planned for the St. Cloud facility, which was named again in 2024, for the fourth year in a row as one of the Best Places to Work by Modern Healthcare magazine.
