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Osceola Regional Medical Center plans expansion County News Tuesday, 21 December 2010 12:41 By Fallan Patterson Staff Writer The Osceola Regional Medical Center Monday announced it will be undertaking a $50 million expansion, which will include a new patient services tower. When complete, the new tower will house an additional 64 state-of-the-art private rooms, hospital officials stated in a press release. The hospital is at 700 W. Oak St., Kissimmee. Twelve of the new rooms will be designated for intensive care unit patients; 20 will be for patients needing an intermediate level of care; and 34 will be designated for medical/surgical patients, bringing the hospital's total bed count to 321. The expansion will add 107,000 square feet of new space and 20,000 square feet of renovated space to the hospital’s existing footprint. Construction is expected to begin in the summer and be completed by the first quarter of 2013, hospital officials stated in a press release. The tower will be built on the east side of the hospital campus on property owned by Osceola Regional. Plans also call for expansion of the hospital’s existing power plant and the addition of a two-story, 250-space parking garage. “Our new tower is being designed to accommodate future vertical expansion. Ultimately, we will add two more floors and another 68 additional private patient rooms to our main hospital campus,” Kathryn Gillette, hospital CEO, said. “Osceola County, Kissimmee and Central Florida will continue to grow. It’s imperative that we anticipate this growth and the corresponding need for health care. We see our commitment to the new patient services tower as an investment in the health of our community.” Hospital officials stated that they anticipate spending nearly $6 million on technology and medical equipment to outfit the tower. The expansion also will create about 125 new jobs. Kissimmee Mayor Jim Swan said he was excited about the expansion, a proposal that had been in the works for a few years, and that the construction means more jobs will be available for residents. “I'm really tickled. That's a huge Christmas present for the city of Kissimmee,” he said. “Certainly just having the opportunity for more employment for the community is a great thing.” Swan said he hoped the hospital would look to local construction companies to do some of the work and that it will create opportunities for additional doctor offices and other medical facilities to be built in the city. He also said he saw the expansion as a push for the city to improve the downtown area, including development of the county-owned Beaumont property along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard into a space residents can live, work and play. “This will further enhance that type of downtown area to develop,” Swan said. “This may be something that will give the (Osceola County) commission further thought to the Beaumont property.” Osceola Regional Medical Center offers services including: a 24-hour emergency department; 24-hour obstetrician coverage/baby suites maternity unit; level II neonatal intensive care unit; pediatrics; accredited chest pain center; certified primary stroke center; orthopedic and spine center; wound healing center; Kissimmee physical therapy center; complete diagnostic; and imaging and testing services at the Osceola imaging and the breast care center. Visit www.OsceolaRegional.com for more information.   Please register or log in to post comments. JComments