Orlando Medical Jobs Created by New Facility

The opening of a new facility will help create several Orlando medical jobs.

Last week, city and state officials and more than 800 business leaders, scientists and politicians gathered for the official opening of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. The institute is thought to be an important component of Orlando's emergency Medical City.

City of Orlando officials have made a strategic commitment to pursue biomedical and life sciences companies to locate to the Central Florida community in order to secure the future of a medical cluster.

These specific industries were targeted to help diversify the economy, create thousands of high-wage and high-value jobs for the region and provide world-class healthcare options to residents and visitors.

"I am pleased to celebrate the opening of the Burnham Institute's east coast headquarters - the heart beat of our Medical City," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said. "This could not have happened without the hard work of people and organizations coming together, collaborating and partnering."

So far, almost $1 billion in public funding has been secured for Medical City projects worth more than $1.5 billion.

"We chose Orlando to locate our east coast headquarters because of the highly collaborative environment and strong community support," Dr. John Reed, president and CEO of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, said. "We knew Burnham would flourish in this synergetic setting."

Further efforts will result in the following entities being located in Medical City: the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Nemours Children's Hospital, the Orlando VA Medical Center and the University of Florida Research Center.

The idea for Medical City began almost 10 years ago when Orlando invested more than $80 million to build roads and infrastructure at Lake Nona. At the same time, the city created the Southeast Orlando Sector Plan, one of the largest urban planning and development projects, to develop a strategic, smart growth plan that relies on the life science sector and increases the livability of the entire community. Medical City is expected to be complete in 2012.