Imagine my surprise to read the location of half the story as the town I am currently typing this in. Just a quick update. It is no longer called Lakeland Memorial Hospital. Several years ago they added a new wing (larger then the original building) and it is now Lakeland Regional Medical Center.
The motel you mentioned as a Travel lodge is probably the one now called "Lake Wire Inn" and the new one called Travel Lodge is up by I4.
Funny thing, I know one of the cardiologists at the hospital and he is a silent partner in one of the three remaining dive shops in town. (yes, the economy has hurt our local dive industry, while we used to have 5 dive shops, we are down to 3).
So, if you are going to reprint this story and want to reset it to the current day, I can check out any location for you in this town.