Lakeland Regional Health expanding ER access, ranked 2nd busiest emergency department in nation

LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) – The hospital with the second busiest emergency department in the country is planning a network of free-standing emergency departments to accommodate a growing population.

“When you look at the growth in the community, we know that the demand for health care services is also increasing,” said Danielle Drummond, president and CEO of Lakeland Regional Health.

Lakeland Regional Health is building its first free-standing emergency department in South Lakeland at the intersection of South Florida Avenue and 540-A to serve South Lakeland.

“We know that it’s a busy growing part of town and we really feel that location will provide that convenient access to the residents of south Lakeland that are seeking emergency level care,” said Drummond.

While not a trauma center, Drummond said patients will still be triaged and treated by emergency room doctors and personnel.

“If they would require additional or higher level of care, we would be able to seamlessly transport them up to the main medical center location and continue that care protocol,” she said.

Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz, who once served on the hospital’s board, said accessibility is key.

“Really where we are seeing a lot of that strain comes from people who have no health care accessibility and that’s going to be on the fringe sides of the cities which is why the south side location is important,” said Mayor Mutz.

Construction is set to begin on the south Lakeland ER site next year.

Lakeland Regional Health has repeatedly been at the top of the list of the nation’s busiest emergency room departments because of limited access to primary care physicians and its geography, serving Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties.

“Lakeland Regional has such a busy emergency department because, to some extent, the geography that we serve. We’re the only trauma center in the tri-county area so we do draw patients from a fairly large geography,” said Drummond.

In 2021, the hospital saw 190,000 visits to the emergency room. Drummond expects the number to be closer to 200,000 in 2022.

Lakeland Regional Health is also building a new facility at I-4 and Kathleen Road to provide primary and specialty care in north Lakeland.