Faculty and staff gathered March 2 to celebrate a momentous occasion in the construction of the new UF Health Heart & Vascular Hospital and UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital. Colorful signatures and messages crowded a steel beam that was then lifted into place on the buildings, representing yet another step toward advancing care for our patients’ hearts and minds. Photo by Jesse S. Jones
As UF Health officials celebrated a milestone in the construction of the UF Health Heart & Vascular Hospital and the UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital with a beam-signing ceremony March 2, the effort to raise private support for the $415 million project continues to gain momentum.
The two new hospitals, which will give rise to the Southeast’s most advanced home for care of patients with heart, vascular and neurological illnesses, are expected to open in 2017. Housed in one contiguous building, each hospital’s focus will give patients concentrated care for some of the most complex health conditions.
“The two new hospitals will provide a healing environment that revolves around our patients, one location to address everything from outpatient visits and easy access to laboratory tests and imaging to complex surgeries and follow-up care,” said David S. Guzick, MD, PhD, senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health.
UF Health faculty and staff have supported the hospitals’ construction both philosophically and philanthropically. From early in the hospitals’ inception, physicians and clinical staff were an integral part of the planning process for the new facilities.
Faculty and staff have also stepped forward to make gifts to offset a portion of the construction costs, with 100 percent participation from faculty in the Lillian S. Wells departments of neurosurgery and cardiology contributing to the hospitals. Additional support has been generated through the UF Health Shands employee campaign known as Raising Hope at Work, which has brought in nearly $165,000 for the project so far. External philanthropy has been an important part of the project’s progress, with more than $8.5 million raised so far from grateful patients and community partners.
Faculty and staff hope to raise enough funds, both internally and externally, to name several spaces within the new hospitals in honor of former physician leaders and others.
To learn more about the UF Health Heart & Vascular and Neuromedicine Hospitals, please visit HeartsandMinds.UFHealth.org.
