Just after the sun set on downtown Orlando, members of the community excitedly watched pink concrete flow out of trucks onto the construction site for a new comprehensive women’s hospital. Throughout the night and into the early morning, roughly 700 truck loads poured about 180,000 cubic feet of concrete. That’s 48 million pounds of hope for a better future for women’s health care.
For Dena Jalbert, a cardiology and obstetrics patient at Florida Hospital, it was a moment of promise as she watched the pink concrete pour into the slab. Jalbert experienced severe cardiac problems after giving birth to her children, and knows firsthand the importance of a comprehensive women’s health facility.
“Having a facility like Florida Hospital for Women is truly phenomenal – a place for women like myself to have access to all areas of specialty and have that care truly be coordinated,” she said. “My two beautiful, healthy daughters are proof that comprehensive care can prevent critical problems and make the unbelievable, believable.”
The Central Florida community gathered to witness history in the making at the foundation pour event for the new comprehensive women’s hospital, Florida Hospital for Women. This was the second largest concrete pour in Central Florida history following the 2006 construction of Florida Hospital’s Ginsburg Tower.
Florida Hospital for Women will be a comprehensive facility to treat the health needs of women in all stages of life. Services will include obstetrics, maternal fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, women’s surgery, neonatal intensive care, mammography, wellness and education, a lactation center and the High Risk Breast Center. The facility will answer the need for more comprehensive women’s health care.
“Research is showing that the lifespan of women is not growing at the same rate as men,” said Marla Silliman, senior vice president at Florida Hospital. “Women put others’ health and well-being ahead of their own, but need to take care of themselves too. That’s why putting all the specialists in one comprehensive facility to work together is so important.”
The 12-story, 400,000-square-foot hospital will house 322 beds and is set to open in 2015.
