Jacksonville, Fla. – In an effort to improve services and better manage the needs of our community, Shands Jacksonville will be consolidating its emergency medical services into one location Dec. 17. The consolidation of emergency services to the Clinical Center will result in more concerted care for our patients, with state-of-art diagnostics, specialty services and multidisciplinary staff available within the same facility. As the busiest emergency department on the First Coast, with more than 110,000 emergency visits each year, Shands Jacksonville and our affiliated University of Florida physicians continue to strive to provide quality patient care.
The consolidation of the emergency departments is one of the final steps in completing the original merger process when Shands Jacksonville acquired Methodist Medical Center and University Medical Center in 1999. Currently, both short- and long-term plans are in place to further enhance the operation of emergency services within the Clinical Center. Throughout the consolidation process, all other services will continue to function normally.
Jim Burkhart, Shands Jacksonville President and Administrator, said “Shands Jacksonville takes pride in how we handle emergency care. We hope that this consolidation will improve our ability to do the most important thing, which is to take care of the needs of our patients.”
This is just one of the steps Shands Jacksonville is taking to help alleviate the local and national issue of emergency department overcrowding. Shawna Perry, M.D., assistant chair for the UF Department of Emergency Medicine, urged citizens to utilize their primary care physicians or existing care centers to maintain overall health, adding “Our mission is to provide every patient with the quality care, respect and compassion in an emergency, when it is needed most.”
Shands Jacksonville also offers two off-site clinic locations: The Oakes of Durkeeville, located at 1605-6 N. Myrtle Ave. (350-1118) and the newest facility, Eastside Family Practice Center, located at 1155 East 21st St. (359-9696).
Shands Jacksonville has a unique academic emergency medicine department with 25 University of Florida, faculty members and 50 residents. Our medical team provides special programs in trauma, toxicology, pediatric emergency medicine and provides air ambulance services by TraumaOne.