In 1951, Orange Memorial Hospital was designated one of Florida’s first teaching hospitals by the American Medical Association. The designation as a teaching hospital was, and continues to be a big draw for physicians. Many projects that began in the 1950’s were completed in 1962 when the new A & B wings were finished. This project brought the bed count at Orange Memorial to 600. The expansion added new maternity areas, laboratory and pharmacy departments, additional surgical suites, a recovery room and a central supply area. In 1964, the hospital created the first “Cardiac Arrest Team,” to respond to cardiac emergencies. In 1967, the C wing was completed, bringing the total number of beds to 800. Classrooms and a new 320-seat auditorium were also added. In the early 1970’s, the hospital saw an increased need for specialized equipment to care for babies weighing less than 3 lbs at birth, or “neonates” as they were called at the time. Thanks to significant financial support, Orange Memorial opened one of only six regional neonatal intensive care units in Florida. In 1975, an $8.5 million expansion project added outpatient surgery facilities, a 40,000 square foot outpatient rehabilitation building, multilevel parking garage, the Central Florida Radiation Center and renovated the existing physical plant. The hospital had grown from a small, one-building facility into a major metropolitan hospital, serving hundreds of thousands of Central Florida residents. In 1977 the hospital would again change its name, this time to Orlando Regional Medical Center. The new hospital name was also became the company name, as Orange Memorial Hospital and Holiday Hospital consolidated to form one company, Orlando Regional Medical Center, Inc. The building that Arnold Palmer Hospital now resides in was formerly Holiday Hospital. The newly consolidated hospitals quickly began to focus on updating their facilities and services, including adding linear accelerators, a CT Scanner, and opened the new ORMC Emergency Department, nearly tripling the number of emergency beds.
ORMC was designated a regional trauma center in 1981 and won approval to install a helipad on the roof. Before that, the helicopters would land on Orange Avenue in front of the emergency entrance, blocking traffic. In 1982, ORMC again restructured and established the Orlando Health Network, Inc. This holding company was an umbrella for Orlando Regional Medical Center, the ORMC Foundation and Healthnet Services, Inc. ORMC remained the flagship of the new parent company. The ORMC emergency department was quickly gaining notoriety and in 1983, ORMC was designated a Level I Trauma Center. Following this designation, ORMC developed the Air Care Team helicopter rescue service. The Air Care Team has continued to be a life-saving resource and asset to the Central Florida Area. Throughout the 1980’s, ORMC continued to develop as a world-class teaching hospital, and by 1987, had developed affiliations with 40 universities and community colleges. One significant affiliation was with the University of Florida College of Medicine. The resulting affiliation allowed an exchange of residents, faculty and senior medical students, and highlighted ORMC’s academic credibility and strength as a teaching institution.
