Lakeland Regional Medical Center

Owner: Lakeland Regional Medical Center
Location: Lakeland, Fla.
Contractor: Creative Contractors, Clearwater, Fla.
Architect: HLM Design/Heery International

This new addition to the Lakeland Regional Hospital complex was designed to be complementary to the existing surrounding buildings while at the same time establishing a new focal point for the hospital campus.

The design relays the expectations of the client, Lakeland Regional Medical Center, to improve the health-care status of the region.

As the new "front door" and arrival point for the entire hospital facility, the architect's themes of hospitality and deinstitutionalized welcome create an improved procession for visitors to the hospital.

The program goal for the project was to provide approximately 300 replacement inpatient beds and a connected 983-car parking garage directly adjacent to the bed tower. The addition of this new interconnected structure presents an entirely new visual image and presence for the 50-year-old hospital complex.

The main entrance on the second level features a hospitality décor in the main lobby and admissions offices. The new kitchen is located on level one.

Levels three through eight provide 48 beds per level, with rooms on all six of these floors designed for "universal care."

The new tower also includes three floors of cardiovascular patient units. It features a cardiac interventional unit; medical cardiology and cardiovascular and thoracic unit; medical oncology unit; general surgery unit; and specialty surgery unit.