Orlando hospitals give resort treatment to maternity rooms, services

Orlando, FL, hospitals see labor and delivery as big business and are competing to make their rooms feel less like an infirmary and more like a resort. Two years ago, Orlando Health's Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies opened a $112 million ultra-contemporary tower that intensified the local chase to attract expectant mothers. Now Florida Hospital, operated by Adventist Health System, feels pressure to step up its game. Florida Hospital invested more than $16 million last year to refurbish its maternity unit in Winter Park and another $4 million at its Orlando hospital by October. By next year, Florida Hospital Orlando's pediatric unit will be the first hospital to bear the Disney name thanks to a $10 million donation from Walt Disney World.