UF physician teams at Shands at UF and Shands Jacksonville care for high-risk mothers and their babies from pre-natal management through the delivery process and newborn care. These programs are designated as State of Florida Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Centers offering tertiary obstetrics and Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
EXPANDING CARE FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES
Shands HealthCare recently made significant investments in its two rural hospitals to support medically underserved populations. Shands Starke introduced Bradford County’s first MRI technology and opened an expanded 7,400-square-foot, $4.4-million Emergency Department. Shands Live Oak introduced Suwannee County’s first MRI capabilities and opened a $1.9-million, 3,200-square-foot addition to its Emergency Department.
REACHING OUT TO MEET COMMUNITY NEED
Shands Jacksonville’s Community Affairs department manages programs targeted to high-risk populations in primarily African American communities. Patients include young-expectant mothers; patients with HIV/AIDS; children with sickle cell disease; and older adults with diabetes. In 2008, its Heal Thy People program was expanded to serve the growing Hispanic community. Shands Jacksonville operates two wellness and education centers that serve Duval County’s uninsured and underinsured populations. The health fairs and outreach activities touched more than 11,700 lives last year. Shands Jackonsville’s mobile-clinic van served approximately
1,300 patients.
PROVIDING CRITICAL CARE
Our two academic medical centers offer Level I Trauma Centers. Shands at UF has one of the state’s four regional burn care centers and Shands Jacksonville is one of three Florida-based Poison Information Centers. We have two emergency transport programs: ShandsCair, based in Gainesville, and TraumaOne in Jacksonville. ShandsCair transports more than 1,800 patients by ground and air each year; TraumaOne airlifts approximately 1,000 patients each year.
