Orlando Health Watson Clinic Lakeland Highlands Hospital received its first patients on Wednesday, July 8, when its doors officially opened at 9 a.m.

“This is an exciting day in Polk County,” said Carlos Carrasco, president of Orlando Health Watson Clinic Lakeland Highlands Hospital. “Our experienced and dedicated physicians and staff are ready and looking forward to serving this community. Today represents the launch of something new, a truly unique collaboration between Watson Clinic and Orlando Health, focused on improving the health and quality of life of the greater Polk County region.”

It is the first hospital opening in Lakeland in more than a century and the 50th Orlando Health facility in Florida, including hospitals, clinics, institutes and free-standing emergency departments. The hospital includes:

· 77.29 acres

· 558,233 square feet

· 7 floors

· 306 beds in private rooms

· 49 exam, 5 fast track, and 20 observation beds

· 8 labor and delivery, 28 post-partum, 12 neonatal intensive care beds

· 2 C-section rooms

· 13 operating rooms

· 2 heart catheterization labs

· One 1.5T MRI and one 3T MRI

· 1 ground-level helicopter pad

Watson Clinic Chief Executive Officer Jason Hirsbrunner said that when Watson Clinic was approached about the possibility of collaborating with Orlando Health on the hospital, they “jumped at the opportunity.”

“After 85 years of serving the healthcare needs of our community, we knew we could offer the Watson Clinic physicians and providers our patients already know and trust to this exciting project,” said Hirsbrunner. “We are confident that this hospital – coupled with Watson Clinic’s two freestanding facilities on this campus - will elevate the health and vitality of our community for generations to come.”

The hospital is already an economic driver in the community. Up to 700 construction jobs were created on site, including local subcontractors. More than 1,500 new permanent jobs were created.

There will be another 200 jobs added to that number by the end of the year when Orlando Health opens a free-standing emergency department in North Lakeland.

Of the new employees, 600 are nurses and 75 are physicians new to the market –– between new hires for Watson Clinic and Orlando Health and Emergency Physicians of Central Florida. They are in addition to the 200 board-certified physicians already on staff at Watson Clinic.

Many of the new positions are considered high-skill, high-wage jobs, well above the average annual salary for Polk County.

According to the Lakeland Economic Development Council, the hospital is now the sixth-largest employer in Lakeland. It is the 15th-largest employer in Polk County, according to the Central Florida Development Council.

The hospital will continue to grow. In coming months, a 12-bed neonatal-intensive-care unit will open as part of the facility’s focus of babies, brains and hearts.