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Florida approved a 48-bed expansion of an Orlando hospital Tuesday.

Officials say it will increase access to mental health services in Central Florida.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration approved Central Florida Behavioral Hospital’s $11.8 million expansion.

The 48 new beds will be used for adult psychiatric patients, and brings the hospital’s total bed count to 174.

The hospital is located in Orlando near Sea World.

The expansion would add 37,000 square feet of new construction.

It comes at a time when the lack of funding for mental health services in Florida is being questioned.

Company officials expect the beds to open in January of 2017 and create 70 jobs.

WMFE is a partner with Health News Florida, a statewide collaborative reporting on health care.

Health reporting on WMFE is supported in part by AdventHealth.