One of the many perks of my job is that I get to go out into the community and attend special events presented by hospitals, pregnancy centers, medical clinics, and other facilities we often come in contact with.
The most recent event I and another staff member had the pleasure of attending was the grand opening of Florida Hospital for Women in Orlando. This wonderful hospital is a large addition to the already well known and trusted Florida Hospital located at 601 East Rollins Street in the busy city Orlando.
The beautiful 12 story, 332 bed hospital is surrounded by plate glass windows and was specially designed “for women, by women”.
Florida Hospital for Women provides a continuum of high tech care including: well women care, pregnancy care, and specialty care for women of all ages and all life stages. From maternity care to menopause, this highly skilled team of dedicated professionals and specialists provides the latest treatments and technologies.
As we arrived at the event, we realized that we were one of thousands of people attending the evening’s festivities. I have been informed that there were more than 3,200 people in attendance!
As we made our way through the crowd, we came to a table filled with white bracelets that glowed with vibrant colors to the beat of the music.
A very colorful hot air balloon was giving attendees the ride of a lifetime, bobbing up and down.
A photo opportunity was our next stop. One of the hosts took our picture as we became the “I” of a display that spelled the word “AMAZING”.
Besides the large amount of attendees on the grounds, hospital staff were everywhere manning the display booths or helping people navigate their way through the crowd. The lawn was filled with food, drinks, displays, lights, balloons, and people. Did I mention all of the people?
Sisaundra Lewis, a former contestant on “The Voice”, was on stage keeping the crowd bouncing and clapping with her music. From the beautiful light show that danced on the front of the glass building to the ever changing light show we were wearing on our wrists, the whole scene was electrifying. It felt more like a rock concert than a grand opening, as I had never seen so many excited people at this type of event.
Beautiful videos were displayed on the building, as the guest speakers took the stage and spoke excitedly about seeing their vision completed. The final performance was a line of angelic looking women dressed in white robes with white candles cupped in their hands. They swayed back and forth in front of the hospital as the very large crowd made their way to the front door to start the much anticipated tour.
The entire hospital is amazing however for us, we were most interested in the lobby, 3rd, 6th, and 7thfloors. These rooms are all a part of The Baby Place. The beautifully decorated lobby houses the Center for Women’s Wellness, the OB triage, a gift shop, and a chapel.
We followed the crowd to the elevator and up to the third floor for a tour of the spacious labor rooms. There are 14 labor and delivery suites with hydrotherapy spa showers and 4 large air jet bathtubs. There is also three C-section operating rooms. The labor and delivery suites look more like a hotel than a hospital room.
Jumping on the elevator again, we made our way to the sixth floor. Located on the sixth floor are 48 high risk obstetrics and mother-baby rooms. On the sixth floor there is also a multipurpose family room and a balcony that overlooks the city.
In this area they had set up a little pampering for the attendees. As we made our way through the busy halls, we came across a demonstration of Eve Lom Skincare presented by Neiman Marcus. We left the presentation with some great samples of skin care products. There was also an area where hospital staff was giving mini massages to attendees.
Soon, we were once again on the elevator making our way to the 7th floor to see the mother-baby rooms. The 7th floor mother-baby rooms were much like the suites on the 6th floor, spacious and elegant. We weren’t able to go to the 4th and 5th floors where the NICU is located, but we can only imagine that those spaces are just as lovely and built with equal attention to detail.
As we made our way back to the parking garage, we discussed what a wonderful event it had been and what a great job they had done.
We also thought about what the walk to the parking garage will be like after we complete our first adoption there. It won’t be as glamorous of an event. We definitely won’t leave with sparkling wristbands and fancy face creams. But we won’t be any less happy.
Florida Hospital for Women is a beautiful building and facility, and that’s exciting. But for us we can’t wait to see what sort of beautiful adoption stories will happen in those shiny new walls. What sort of memories will be made on that balcony? Or how many families we will see take their first trip home from that lobby? Those are the real perks of my job.
We are eager to work with Florida Hospital for Women in the future and wish them all the best as they continue to provide excellent services to the women in their community.
