The state of health care in Florida, what its future means to local residents and how it may be improved by the University of Central Florida's new College of Medicine will be the focus of a UCF symposium next week.

The public is invited to the "Growth in Healthcare" symposium at the Fairwinds Alumni Center on the East Orlando campus from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 28. The UCF Health Services Administration Alumni Club is sponsoring the event.

Leaders from the medical community will discuss growth in the healthcare industry and what it means for people living in Central Florida.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Deborah German, dean of the UCF College of Medicine. The medical school, approved by Florida's Board of Governors in March 2006, could welcome its first class as early as fall 2009. The college is seeking preliminary accreditation with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, an organization responsible for evaluating medical-education programs.

Other speakers on the panel include Don Langmo, founder and CEO of Healthcare Support Staffing; Tim Liezert, medical center director for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Orlando; Rich Morrison of Florida Hospital; Dr. Kevin Sherin, the Orange County Health Department director; Karen Van Caulil of the Health Council of East Central Florida; and William Winder, administrator for Florida Campuses for Nemours, one of the nation's largest children's healthcare systems.

The experts will share their opinions on the impact of the College of Medicine and what it means to their organizations and to residents who need services in Central Florida.

Central Florida is bursting with activity within the medical and biomedical research community. The Burhnam Institute, which works on cutting-edge research in areas such as aging and cancer, will open a facility near the medical college at the UCF Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona. The University of Florida plans to open a research facility there as well. Nemours is seeking approval to build a children's hospital in the same area in the next five years.

And plans to locate the new Veterans Administration hospital at Lake Nona are in the works. That facility is expected to house 134 beds, an expanded outpatient services center, a nursing home and a domiciliary in about 1 million square feet.

Eventually, the UCF College of Nursing is expected to leave the East Orlando campus and relocate to Lake Nona, joining the College of Medicine and the Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences. The nursing school, which will formally become a college in July, is looking for funding for its new home. The nursing school has nearly 550 undergraduate students, 220 master's candidates and 36 doctoral students.

The symposium is free to students. UCF Alumni Association members will pay $5, and non-members will pay $10. Attendees must RSVP at www.cohpa.ucf.edu/HSASymposium.htm or by calling 407-823-2723.

The Fairwinds Alumni Center is in Building 126 on North Gemini Boulevard, directly across from the UCF Arena and site of the new Convocation Center.

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