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Our Medical Community
Only the University of Florida can rival the medical community in terms of jobs and economic impact to the area. However, the benefit of having so many world-class medical facilities here goes far beyond economic impact. This community is home to some of the best health care in the United States. Within the Gainesville city limits are four hospitals with close to 2,000 beds. Additionally, each of these facilities incorporates outstanding outpatient programs to further enhance the medical care of the area’s residents.
The University of Florida College of Medicine has to take the credit as a magnet for the local medical industry. The college, with its strong research base, attracts physicians and researchers from around the world. Many of them open practices and become affiliated with one or more of the area’s hospitals. Approximately 1,200 physicians, surgeons and dentists maintain practices in the county, the largest per capita count in all of Florida.
Shands Hospital at UF is the center of a health-care community that stretches across North Florida. Shands Health- Care is made up of eight, not-for-profit hospitals, including Shands at AGH, which was first established in 1928. Shands includes a network of more than 80 primary and specialty practices and a medical staff of more than 1,000 University of Florida faculty and community physicians.
Last fall, Shands applied to establish a State-Approved Level I Trauma Center at the Shands at UF medical center. Shands filed a letter of intent with the State of Florida Department of Health – the first step in an application process that could take until spring 2005. Florida currently has six Level I Trauma Centers located in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami. UF and Shands officials estimate that with Level I Trauma Center designation, Shands at UF would gain approximately 1,600 additional trauma patient admissions annually.
Other new activity includes the UF Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Institute – a 127,000 square foot multi-service facility expected to open later this year. The facility, located on SW 34th Street, will provide comprehensive evaluation and care for patients with musculoskeletal conditions.
Shands is not the only local medical institution in an expansion mode. North Florida Regional Medical Center, already with more than 400 physicians on staff in 40 different specialties, recently added 165,000 square feet to its campus. The $72 million expansion included new labs, operating rooms, post-anesthesia care unit beds and a 24- bed intensive care unit.
The Malcom Randall Veterans Administration Hospital is a federally funded medical center operated by the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs. It serves eligible medical, surgical and psychiatric patients with primary, secondary and tertiary care, and includes a nursing home providing extended care. The VA hospital benefits from its location across the street from UF’s medical school with many of its physicians and staff having ties to the university.
With these state-of-the-art facilities and some of the top medical experts in the world working in them, North Central Florida residents of all ages, along with thousands of people who come here annually specifically for health care, can be treated in an expert fashion for virtually any medical condition.