By and large, the University of Central Florida’s medical-school had very few enemies and plenty of friends when it started here in Orlando. But that may be changing.
UCF just agreed to spend $15 million on land next to its medical school, where UCF could build its own hospital. The land buy itself was controversial, because it appraised for less than what UCF agreed to pay in this down market, and prominent university trustee Harris Rosen criticized the deal as too expensive.
Now, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel, two local hospitals that have invested millions in Medical City are not pleased with UCF’s plans to build yet another hospital on the east side of Orlando. Its purpose would be as a teaching hospital, UCF said.
As far as UCF’s partners Florida Hospital and Orlando Health are concerned, the plan was to have UCF med students train at the existing hospital’s facilities, in order to avoid duplicate costs.
“We had a clear vision when we put the partnership together,” Florida Hospital President Lars Houmann told the Sentinel. “That vision is changing. … The university has been very honest with us by telling us: That original vision does not appear to be workable.”
The dean of the college of medicine, UCF VP Deborah German, originally told the Sentinel she wasn’t even aware of the concerns being raised, and that she wants to keep having students using the partners’ facilities as well as the new UCF hospital.
“The point is students need to have the experience of all the varieties of medical environments,” German told the Sentinel. “Our students need to have every experience. They need a breadth of experiences. We would still need them to do what they do today.”
When the medical school is fully built, it will serve almost 500 students, German told the paper.
