Nemours Seeks State Approval for Children’s Hospital in Orlando

Nemours Enterprise
Monday, February 13, 2006 @ 12:00 AM EST

Nemours today announced that it will initiate the Certificate of Need (CON) process to build a new children’s hospital in Orlando by filing a letter of intent with the Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA). The CON is the regulatory process required by the State of Florida to build a new hospital. Nemours unveiled its plans to build an integrated, fully endowed, independent children’s hospital in Orlando in the summer of 2005.

“With the overwhelmingly positive support we have received from the community, we feel that we have an obligation to the children of Florida to move forward with our Certificate of Need application now,” said Nemours President and CEO W. Jeff Wadsworth.

The hospital will be built on Nemours’ children’s health care campus, a 28-acre site along Interstate-4 at Conroy Road, and serve as part of the greater national Nemours health care network. Employing over 400 pediatric physicians, subspecialists and surgeons, Nemours cared for approximately a quarter of a million children during more than one million patient encounters in 2005, making it one of the nation’s largest children’s health systems. It is anticipated that families from around the state, region and country will be served by this planned children’s hospital in Orlando.

In addition to clinical care, the Nemours children’s hospital will reflect the organization’s demonstrated commitment to research. Because of the unique Nemours health care network, researchers have access to hundreds of thousands of patients across Nemours entire four-state system. The Nemours children’s hospital will also provide a Florida center for advocacy related to best practices and cures for chronic illnesses in children. Education and medical training opportunities for medical students and allied health students (nurses, pharmacists, etc.) from around the country will be offered at the new hospital.

While Nemours is engaged in the regulatory approval process for its children’s hospital, construction of its new Orlando Children’s Clinic will continue to move forward. Groundbreaking for the Clinic is expected later this year with anticipated completion in 2008.

Complete details about the new hospital will be available when Nemours files an official CON application with the state in about 60 days. The ruling on the CON application is anticipated in mid-June 2006.

modified: Friday, January 04, 2008 @ 02:02 PM EST
created: Friday, January 04, 2008 @ 02:02 PM EST

About Nemours

Nemours, one of the nation’s largest pediatric health systems, is dedicated to achieving higher standards in children’s health. Nemours offers an integrated spectrum of clinical treatment coupled with research, advocacy, and educational health and prevention services extending to all families in the communities it serves. Starting with Alfred I. duPont’s bequest over seventy years ago, Nemours has grown into a multi-dimensional organization offering personalized clinical and preventive care focused on children.

Nemours owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and major children’s specialty clinics in Delaware (Wilmington), Florida (Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr) and New Jersey (Atlantic City and Voorhees). Having recently received preliminary approval from the State of Florida, Nemours will establish a new full-service children’s hospital as part of an integrated pediatric health campus in Orlando. KidsHealth.org, the world’s most visited pediatric health care Web site for parents, kids and teens, is a project of Nemours.

Nemours employs over 4,400 individuals, including 430 pediatric physicians, specialists and surgeons who cared for approximately a quarter of a million children in 2007. The organization’s goal is to align with parents, physicians, community leaders, children’s advocates and elected officials to ensure optimal wellness for every child. Additional information about Nemours can be found at www.nemours.org.