To better serve the East Orlando community with outpatient procedures, Florida Hospital recently opened the new, high-tech Florida Hospital Surgery Center.

 

Located on the Florida Hospital East Orlando campus near Chickasaw Trail, “the 13,500-square-foot facility provides patients and physicians advanced technological equipment for both surgical and endoscopic procedures, many of which are minimally invasive, which translates to less discomfort and expedited recovery time for patients,” explained Michelle Fuentes, assistant administrator at Florida Hospital East. 

 

Outpatient surgery centers in general provide greater convenience for the patients, along with increased interaction with family and friends, which typically leads to better outcomes, said Ryan Reinke, interim director of the Florida Hospital Surgery Center.

 

“At this center, it’ll be no different as we strive to continually put our patients first,” he said. “The other advantage to the patient in this outpatient setting is that they will not have to check-in and be admitted to the hospital to have their procedure done. Much of the pre-registration paperwork is taken care of over the phone prior to the procedure, which saves valuable time. When the patient is ready to be discharged a few hours after their procedure has taken place, they’re able to exit through the rear of the facility to a waiting friend or family member and then continue their recovery in the comfort of their own home.”

 

In addition to the benefits of state-of-the-art surgical equipment, the center was designed to insure comfort for patients and their families. The waiting room features a serene, nature-type themed environment, with wood furnishings, bamboo plant groupings, and photographs capturing the natural beauty of the outdoors. In the Children’s Zone, children can interact, play games, watch television and read books to help pass the time. The furniture is arranged to allow families to interact while waiting for loved ones. As patients prep and recover from their procedure, they will remain in individual patient bays, where they will be able to rest or speak with their family and friends privately.

 

“The idea is to put both the family and the patient at ease, allowing as much access to each other as possible to begin the healing process immediately,” said Reinke. “The mind and the spirit are every bit as important to a quick recovery as the body.”

 

Physicians are taking note of the Florida Hospital Surgery Center’s importance to the community.

 

“We’ve never had an outpatient surgery center of this caliber in East Orlando,” said general surgeon Kenley Davis, MD. “It’ll also be a means to bring new medical services to the East Orlando community and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

 

With two surgical suites and two endoscopy procedure rooms, specialties at the center include digestive health, ENT, general surgery, GYN, orthopedics, podiatry and urology. More than 20 nurses, certified technicians and other specially trained professionals staffing the center work with physicians to make sure all aspects of the surgery or endoscopy procedure are at a level expected for their patients.

 

The opening of the center has helped ease overcrowding by increasing the number of operating rooms on campus by 50 percent.

 

“We strive for every patient and physician to have a first-class experience from the moment they walk through our doors,” said Reinke. “We want to make sure every one of their concerns is taken care of, and that starts with every member of Florida Hospital really caring about what happens to them.”