If you’re an aficionado of outdoor dining at hospital campuses, you may have noticed that a very nice outdoor seating area on Lake Estelle has been commandeered at Florida Hospital.
This week, Florida Hospital announced the “official” opening of the Center for Interventional Endoscopy, which started seeing patients in May. This morning, I was able to do a tour in the facility.
First, a few stats: The new center opened in May and is about 18,000 square feet, and used to be outdoor dining (but now has a great view from the waiting room). It has 18 preparation and recovery bays, six procedure rooms and four exam rooms, although it’s currently only operating half of these rooms and has plans to be fully operational by 2016.
So why should you care? Here’s another good stat: About 50 percent of the patients coming to the center are from out of the area, including patients from 19 states and six countries.
“There’s a need, and people are traveling,” said Scott Bond, director of the center. “These guys have a pull.”
So here’s a sampling of procedures that can be done at the center: endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), double balloon enteroscopy, enteral stenting, enteral nutrition, radio frequency ablation, endoscopic mucosal resection, management of bariatric surgery and post surgical complications, and pediatric advanced endoscopy.
What’s more, the center has a research and educational goal in addition to the clinical side. And speaking of partnering, Florida Hospital is already working with Omega Medical Imaging in Sanford to work on some new tech.
“Eventually, we’re planning a hybrid operating room,” Bond said. “We’re working with industry to create new surgical devices.”

Sources: www.bizjournals.com; Abraham Aboraya; June 28, 2013.