UCF’s Medical City commerical: “A Bold Move” (Video)

A new commercial featuring Board of Trustees member Rick Walsh was posted on UCF’s YouTube page last week:

A bold move by UCF. 30,000 jobs. And billions in economic development. The only project of its kind. Some call it a game changer. We call it a medical city. With research, hospitals and a College of Medicine…we’re transforming and savings lives. I’m Rick Walsh, UCF Class of ’77.

We featured some photos of the Medical City on this blog last July.

Web Roundup: Med School impresses Lake Nona neighbors

• VA Officials Tour “Building of Life” (UCF Today)
  Officials from the Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake Nona recently toured the UCF College of Medicine.
• Status of the UCF Veterans Memorial Site (National Center for Simulation)
  Al Harms gives a construction and funding update of the new Veterans site on Memory Mall.
• Recreation and Wellness Center Closing for Renovations (UCF Today)
  The gym will be closed for two weeks while work on the RWC Expansion continues.
• UCF Med School Tour (UCFTV on YouTube)
  A new video segment from UCFTV takes a look inside the new UCF College of Medicine facilities (embedded below).

Up Close: UCF College of Medicine and Lake Nona “Medical City”

UCF’s new 50-acre College of Medicine campus is at the center of the emerging 600-acre “medical city” in Lake Nona. Lake Nona is a master-planned community taking shape in southeast Orlando.  I had a few requests to take some photos of the new campus in Lake Nona (officially, the UCF Health Sciences Campus). I’d never been to the Lake Nona area before, so I decided to take a drive down 417 to take a look.

So far, UCF has completed two buildings, the 168,000-SF classroom building and the 198,000-SF Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences building.  The Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute building is also complete.  A 1.2 million SF VA Hospital (opening 2012) and Nemours Children’s Hospital are currently under construction. Both will open in 2012.

I have to admit, right now this place seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere, but that will soon change. New housing developments are already springing up along Lake Nona Blvd. north of 417.  A “town center” development is planned for the site across the street from UCF’s campus.  More development is sure to follow once the economy recovers.  Overall, it is really awesome what they are building in Lake Nona.

Classes will begin on the new campus next month.

Learn More:

College Of Medicine Facilities (UCF)

Central Florida’s Medical City (WFTV)