SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – More than 14,000 babies are born every year at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Center For Women And Babies. Now, “Winnie” has a new “sister hospital.”
Just opened in January, this new center for women and babies is already having a major impact on communities in and around Seminole and Volusia counties.
The new Orlando Health Lake Mary campus replaces the old South Seminole Hospital in Longwood. Right next to the existing emergency room facilities in Lake Mary off Rinehart Road, two six-story towers with more than 450,000 square feet give the hospital room to grow. The new choice puts patients in Seminole and Volusia counties closer to more options for care, including labor and delivery.
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It’s a new and exciting choice for Seminole County residents like the Bibbins family. Mom, Daniece, just welcomed her second baby, Amir.
“So I found out from my OBGYN that I would be able to deliver here. The first time around, I was at Winnie Palmer and this was such a great experience for it to be closer. So it helped with being able to, with my family, be closer than having to drive to Orlando. But it was such great experience. I enjoyed every bit of it. The staff was amazing and it was just very convenient as well,” she explained.
Baby Amir is one of more than 220 babies born here since it opened Jan. 11, 2025.
“Our patients are absolutely loving it. They love the experience of the nurses, they love the surroundings, they love, you know, the fact that we do, again, partner with Winnie Palmer, with our medical staff as well,” said Rose Palmer, director of Women’s Services.
Palmer says the response to the new hospital and its center has been tremendous.
“Anybody can deliver their baby here at Lake Mary Hospital. The majority of moms follow their docs and where they deliver, where their physicians deliver, the parents will deliver. But we have had probably a good percentage of moms who have come to Lake Mary without their primary physician actually delivering here. We have a great OB hospitalist model,” Palmer explained.
The facility is filled with new technology, such as wireless monitors for patients allowing more mobility, a digital footprint and fingerprint system for new baby and mom called Certascan, and digital white boards provide clearer connections between the medical team and patients.
“This digital whiteboard completely uploads from our electronic medical record, so the patient is up to date on their care plan, who their care team is. When we talk about ease of use for both the patient and the nursing team and the clinical team, remarkable,” Palmer said.
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From the hallways to waiting areas and birthing suites, the design and décor has been carefully curated to provide calming, comforting, welcoming surroundings for care. Bibbins says that’s been the experience for the whole family as they prepare to take their new addition home.
“I’m just super excited. Like I said, this was such a great experience, being here at Orlando Health and, you know, if I have another baby, I will gladly come back,” she said.
Lake Mary partners with Winnie Palmer to provide any higher level of care if and when it’s needed for both mom and baby. Palmer says the large campus in Lake Mary plans to add a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the near future.
Lake Mary is booming so much, Palmer says the hospital is on track to deliver as many as 1,500 babies in its first year.
