It was 1918 -World War I had just ended and the Spanish Flu epidemic was raging across Central Florida. In Orlando, a dedicated group of doctors and community members joined together to raise a 50-bed, non-air-conditioned hospital to care for the sick. Orange General Hospital opened with the mission of providing top-level care for all community members, and has done just that for the past 95 years.

While the mission for the organization hasn't changed, Orange General Hospital has grown to becomeOrlando Health-one of Central Florida's most comprehensive, not-for-profit hospital systems composed of six wholly-owned hospitals and two partnership hospitals. The 2,000-plus bed system serves nearly 2 million residents and includes Orlando Regional Medical Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, and the Arnold Palmer Medical Center, which consists of Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Winnie Palmer Hospital for Woman & Babies. As a not-for-profit organization, Orlando Health's top priority is the welfare of the community, and all excess revenues are used to benefit the community.

On a panel discussion at Cisco Live! today, Brian Comp, CTO at Orlando Health, was able to share how the organization's investment in technology is essential in fulfilling Orlando Health's mission to improve the health and quality of life of the central Florida community. During the panel, Brian spoke about the hospitals' culture to put patients first and how Cisco has helped to enable the hospitals in increasing collaboration and communication among practitioners. With a new robust infrastructure and separate networks for both guests and physicians, Orlando Health has tackled the omnipresent BYOD challenge with secure and scalable solutions. More applications and large data sets are now supported by the network, giving doctors and nurses access to additional information.

Orlando Health also understands the importance of creating a future-proofed network. With the Internet of Everything poised to provide countless opportunities in healthcare, Orlando Health has invested in an infrastructure that supports the growth of its network while keeping costs under control. Cisco will continue working closely with Orlando Health to ensure the hospitals are able to keep providing the highest level of care. With future plans to increase its use of telehealth services for community hospitals outside of the region, Orlando Health and Cisco are ready to embrace the next wave of healthcare innovations.

What innovations are you looking to see? Do you have a complimentary WiFi during your doctor visits? Let us know in the comments section below!