AdventHealth Winter Garden 'tops out' inpatient tower

The city of Winter Garden is one big step closer to having a full-service hospital, with the celebration of a major construction milestone for AdventHealth’s inpatient tower.

Team members from AdventHealth and general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie marked the “topping out” of the building – meaning the building has reached its full height – with a special ceremony at the AdventHealth Winter Garden campus.

“We’re very excited to be bringing inpatient services to the fast-growing West Orange community,” said Kari Vargas, CEO of AdventHealth Winter Garden. “We are here not only to care for today’s health care needs, but to grow with the region into the future.”

At completion, the five-story tower will have 80 beds, and space for new services, including advanced gynecology, cardiology, gastroenterology, general surgery, neurology, spine health and urology.

“Providing care in a convenient location close to home is a key part of our mission,” said Dr. Omayra Mansfield, chief medical officer for AdventHealth Winter Garden. “We know that the presence and emotional support of loved ones during a hospital stay helps the healing process.”

The topping out tradition, which is centuries old, involves hosting a beam topped by a tree to the top of the structure. In this case, the beam was covered in hundreds of digital signatures from members of the community, and an orange tree was used to honor the area’s agricultural heritage. The tree symbolizes growth, and is meant to bring good luck to the building.

The tower will measure approximately 227,000 square feet, and will include more than 15,500 cubic yards of concrete – enough to build a new 18-mile, two-lane road from AdventHealth Winter Garden to AdventHealth Orlando. It will contain more than 1,750 tons of structural and reinforcing steel -- comparable to the weight of 21 space shuttles.

The project, which broke ground in 2019, will generate a total of about 400 construction jobs. When complete, it will bring 400 medical and support jobs to the community.

The tower is expected to open in spring 2022.