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Long Awaited Poinciana Hospital Host Ribbon Cutting  In just a few weeks, emergency medical care will be within reach of Poinciana residents. 50-thousand people live in Poinciana- but there's been no nearby hospital. Residents helped to change that.
[Poinciana Medical Center ribbon cutting] Big applause met the Poinciana Medical Center ribbon cutting because medical emergencies were a scary thing before now. When resident Cindy Rogers needed an ambulance in 2007, dispatchers couldn’t figure out whether Poinciana was in Osceola or Polk county, creating confusion over who to send and which hospital Rogers would eventually go to. “Once we finally figured that out and they took the call at the right place, the ambulance took about a half an hour to get there,” she said. Rogers said once the ambulance arrived, it took another 45-minutes to get to the hospital, which is why she and other residents formed Friends of Poinciana Hospital in 2008 to petition for a medical facility. Poinciana Medical Center CEO Joanna Conley said the nearest emergency care is 20 miles away. “So we’re very pleased to provide services to our community close to home,” she said. The new hospital will include a 6-bed ICU and a helicopter pad for transporting the most critically ill patients. It’s expected to employ 200 people and will open in August.
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