A new freestanding emergency room in western Orange County is set to open March 10, expanding access to around-the-clock care for residents in and around Apopka. 

Leaders with HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital on Thursday showcased the nearly 11,000-square-foot, $15 million HCA Florida Wekiva Emergency during a Friday ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by local officials, first responders and hospital administrators. 

“This will be our sixth emergency room covering four different counties throughout the Orlando market,” John Gerhold, CEO of Lake Monroe Hospital, said at the ceremony. “It’s going to have full-service CT scan, X-ray with ultrasound capability, and we’ll have a full-service lab here at the hospital. And again, it’s open 24/7.” 

The facility, located at 2757 West Orange Blossom Trail, is designed to function like a hospital-based emergency department, staffed 24 hours a day with board-certified emergency medicine physicians and nurses.  

Hospital officials emphasized that while the building is ready, patients should not seek care there until it officially opens March 10. 

“So please, if you share, we encourage you to share on social media,” said Patrick Wolf, director of physician and provider relations for HCA Lake Monroe Hospital located in Sanford. “We encourage you to get the word out there, but please just add a disclaimer that our doors won’t open till that day.”  

Inside HCA Florida Wekiva, the emergency room features private patient rooms, a centralized nurses’ station and a dedicated acute care area for critically ill patients, including those experiencing cardiac arrest, trauma, overdoses or stroke. 

The site includes on-site radiology services – CT, X-ray and ultrasound – allowing physicians to rapidly evaluate stroke patients and other emergencies. If a patient requires admission, they will be transported to Lake Monroe Hospital. Administrators said patients will not be charged for that transfer. 

For patients with suspected infectious diseases or hazardous exposures, the building includes a decontamination room that patients enter from the outside of the facility, as well as a backflow room connected to the HVAC system so air is pulled in and passed through special HEPA filters before being expelled, rather than pushed back into other areas. 

The emergency room also contains a patient safety room for Baker Act patients or other safety patients.  

In addition, the facility features a large family room stocked with toys and child-life supplies intended to make visits less intimidating for pediatric patients.  

Emergency physician Dr. Craig Mitchell said at the ribbon cutting that the new Wekiva facility will be backed by an experienced emergency team and Lake Monroe’s full range of specialty services, including trauma and stroke care, connecting Apopka-area patients to medical care.  

“That, I think, makes us a really powerful entity for you guys to have, because we’re going to serve as a gateway going toward our hospital,” he said. “So, I think you’ll see a huge benefit, and we’re very excited to open this up.”  

Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson, who spoke at the ceremony, called the project a timely addition amid rapid growth in the area. 

“We’ve got an amazing amount of growth coming in the northwest and southwest parts of the city,” Nelson said. “Having a facility like this here in the western part of Apopka will be a great addition for those people that have a serious accident or serious condition — seconds matter.”