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Florida Hospital Kicks Off Centennial Celebration

Community members tour new Ginsburg Tower and learn about future of health care in Central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 24, 2008 – This evening, joyful music of trumpeters filled the air, fireworks exploded over Lake Estelle and the new Ginsburg Tower came to life with hundreds of LED lights, pyrotechnics and lasers, resembling a “Lite-Brite” and forming a giant 100 on the building. People of all ages lined the streets surrounding Florida Hospital Orlando for this 100th birthday party and kick off of Florida Hospital’s year-long Centennial Celebration. Special guest, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, also joined Florida Hospital officials and guests to share his support for the organization that has served the community for an entire century.

“For the past 100 years, Florida Hospital has been on the forefront of technology and will impact the area for years to come as Orlando continues to establish itself as a world-class destination in medicine and science,” Bush said.

One hundred years ago, Florida Hospital – which has become an eight-campus system that sees more patient visits than any other hospital in the country – began with $4.83 in a farmhouse on the shore of Lake Estelle. Lining the banks today are the multiple buildings that make up Florida Hospital Orlando, the flagship institution of the hospital system. The City of Orlando recently declared the past six days as “Florida Hospital Days” to recognize the organization as the sixth oldest business in Central Florida.

Tonight’s community event was sponsored by the Florida Hospital Foundation and Brasfield & Gorrie to commemorate this important milestone in history and to introduce the newest addition to the Orlando
skyline – the Ginsburg Tower. Following the birthday bash, guests were invited to get a sneak peek of the new facility and to discover the state-of-the-art technology and one-of-a-kind services it will offer locally, nationally and internationally.

This 15-story, 675,000-square-foot patient tower is the tallest hospital building in the state and will house 440 new patient rooms, as well as one of the largest emergency departments and one of the largest cardiac catheterization labs in the country. The Ginsburg Tower is scheduled to open on Dec. 7, 2008.

“With all it encompasses, the Ginsburg Tower adds to the ever-evolving medical landscape in Central Florida,” said Lars Houmann, president and CEO of Florida Hospital. “This new sanctuary of healing is our gift to the community to honor our past 100 years and propel us into providing health care for the next
100 years.”

One of the key highlights of the Ginsburg Tower is its emergency department, which measures at 62,000 square feet and spans the size of a football field. The facility is the first in Central Florida to offer shoreline outlets so ambulances can turn their engines off and plug into the building. It also features a unique “LEAN track process” to help streamline patient flow, make triage more efficient and decrease wait times. The emergency department is intended to accommodate approximately 90,000 annual visits.

In addition, the Ginsburg Tower is designed with a major focus on cardiovascular services and will now house the Florida Hospital Cardiovascular Institute, which currently sees more cardiac patients than any other hospital in the country. This 80,000-square-foot facility includes 12 cardiac catheterization labs, a rehabilitation center capitalizing on views of Lake Estelle, cardiac stress testing areas, a chest pain observation unit and much more.

The Florida Hospital Cardiovascular Institute will also be home to cutting-edge technology like sterotaxis, a computerized, magnetically controlled navigation system that allows for more complex minimally invasive cardiac procedures with increased safety. This makes Florida Hospital the first hospital in Central Florida and one of only a few in the country to offer stereotaxis.

The Ginsburg Tower was created to offer a soothing, relaxing atmosphere for patients and guests. Beautiful views of Lake Estelle are showcased throughout the building, and are visible in patient rooms, guest waiting rooms and corridors, the three-story atrium lobby, the Lakeside Café and the chapel. A variety of colorful artwork graces the walls of the tower, including more than 500 pieces of photography depicting scenes from nature; a three-story, hand-painted mural to evoke a sense of healing and spiritual comfort; and a 200,000-piece mosaic masterpiece inside the chapel.

Patient rooms are also designed with a healing environment in mind. Floor-to-ceiling windows allow light to pour into the rooms, and the GetWellNetwork® on 42-inch flat screen televisions provides patients the opportunity to surf the Web, learn about their medical condition and communicate with medical staff.

Construction for the Ginsburg Tower began in June 2006 with the largest foundation pour in the history of Central Florida, involving 1,200 cement trucks creating a five-foot-thick slab of cement.

Florida Hospital is a not-for-profit organization and depends on the generous philanthropic support of the community. The Ginsburg Tower is named after Alan H. Ginsburg and the Ginsburg Family Foundation, in recognition of their $20 million gift to Florida Hospital, the largest in the organization’s history.

“The new Ginsburg Tower would not be possible without the community’s support,” said Terry Newmyer, chief development officer at the Florida Hospital Foundation. “Together, we have been able to build this state-of-the-art healing facility that helps Florida Hospital grow and thrive as a leading health care provider.”

For more information, contact Florida Hospital Media Relations at 407/303-8217.