Florida Hospital East Orlando’s First Outpatient Surgery Center Now Open

Imagine a place so calm, so comforting, that your apprehensions simply melt away. Imagine a place where images of babbling brooks flowing softly in the background gently wash your fears away. A place where natural light and lush foliage work hand in hand to relax and inspire. Now imagine that in the same place, surrounded by friends and family, you can receive the latest, most compassionate and state-of-the-art outpatient surgery care available in East Orlando.

The lobby area of the Florida Hospital Surgery Center at Florida Hospital East Orlando is designed to put patients and their families at ease using a combination of natural lighting and calming images.

You don’t have to imagine anymore. Welcome to the Florida Hospital Surgery Center at East Orlando.

Opening its doors in late November of last year, the Surgery Center is part of a brand new, patient-centered three story medical office building on the same property as the Florida Hospital East Orlando Campus encompassing nearly 60,000 square feet of space. This is the first outpatient surgery facility at Florida Hospital East Orlando. The Surgery Center features two state-of-the-art minimally invasive surgical suites that accommodate a variety of procedures from orthopaedics to urology and more along with two state-of-the art endocscopy procedure rooms - all designed with the patient, and their quick recovery, in mind. “We’ve designed the entire center with the idea that the mind and the spirit are every bit as important to a quick, successful recovery as the body,” says Ryan Reinke, interim director of the Florida Hospital Surgery Center. “The idea is to put the patient and the family at ease, allowing them as much access to each other as possible to begin the healing process immediately.”

The Surgery Center features two state-of-the-art, minimally invasive surgical suites where the latest technology is used to help Florida Hospital surgeons reduce patient discomfort and downtime during their outpatient procedures.

In addition to providing patients a calming atmosphere where they can be close to their families, the Surgery Center also effectively increases the number of operating rooms on the East Orlando Campus by 50 percent with space provided for additional, future expansion. “The new center has great benefits for every East Orlando resident that visits us,” says Reinke. “Outpatient surgery centers in general provide greater convenience for the patients along with increased interaction with family members and friends, which typically leads to better outcomes. At this center it will be no different as we strive to continually put patients first.”

Much of the paperwork that is required for the center is done over the phone, saving valuable check in and wait time for patients and families, something Florida Hospital is dedicated to as an organization. “We want patients to be seen as quickly as possible no matter what location or procedure they come in for; the less down time, the better,” says Reinke. The Surgery Center also has easy access to parking and doesn’t entail all the detailed check-in procedures that are required in the hospital. When procedures are done, patients exit through the rear of the facility, keeping the main waiting area peaceful and calm for incoming patients and their families.

The recovery area at the Florida Hospital Surgery Center puts patients just inches away from trained staff to help with anything they may need. Each area also has three full walls to increase privacy and reduce noise.

Use of innovative, new technology has also been a focus of the center, allowing for shorter surgery duration, faster recovery periods and even less pain when compared to some of the older outpatient surgical techniques. “The technology has come so far, even in the past few years, that many patients that visit us will be in and out much faster than they anticipate,” says Reinke.

“We have never had an outpatient surgery center of this caliber in east Orlando,” says general surgeon Dr. Kenley David. “It will also be a means to bring new medical services to the East Orlando community. I am excited to be a part of it.”

Patients entering the center should expect the same experience they would get in the main Florida Hospital East Orlando facility, according to Reinke. “We strive for every patient to have a first-class experience from the moment they walk through our doors,” he says. “We want to make sure every one of their concerns are taken care of, and that starts with every member of Florida Hospital really caring about what happens to them.”

Article by Corey Gehrold