Orlando Health breaks ground on Wiregrass Ranch hospital in Pasco County
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 7, 2024

Orlando Health's rapid expansion into the Tampa Bay region is moving forward in Pasco County, where it has broken ground on a 300-bed hospital.

The health system said construction is underway on its Wiregrass Ranch hospital on 40 acres in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of State Road 56 and Wiregrass Ranch Boulevard. Orlando Health purchased the property for $15.9 million in late 2022, four months after the project went public. The hospital is slated to open in late 2025.

The hospital will offer emergency and specialty services. Turner Construction is the general contractor on the project, according to county building records.

The health system, which entered the Tampa Bay region with its 2020 acquisition of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, has additional growth plans in Pasco County. In December 2023, Orlando Health paid $2.7 million for land at the intersection of State Road 54 and Henley Road in Lutz. It's planning a 10,865-square-foot freestanding emergency room on the property. The freestanding ER — another gateway to admissions, a hospital's main source of revenue — will include 10 exam rooms, an imaging suite, a lab and an ambulance bay.

“Over the last decade, greater Pasco County has experienced tremendous population growth,” Matt Taylor, senior vice president of asset strategy for Orlando Health, said in a statement. “The demand for convenient access to a wider range of choices in health care services has been increasing and continues to grow in this area. Orlando Health is pleased to expand its presence to serve this community and address their health care needs."

Pasco County is ground zero for a health care arms race in which health systems from around the Tampa Bay region are fighting for patients with commercial health insurance. In early 2024, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital paid $21 million for 114 acres at the northeast corner of the Interstate 75 and Overpass Road interchange, where it plans to build a hospital.

Those health systems are going head-to-head with Altamonte Springs-based AdventHealth, which is the dominant provider in Pasco County: It has hospitals in Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills and Dade City; it also has a freestanding ER in Lutz.