UF Health Jacksonville and Intuitive Health cut the ribbon on a groundbreaking health care asset today in Northeast Florida, an emergency room/urgent care concept that gives consumers choices while providing outstanding care to patients throughout the community.
The new facility, located near the intersection of I-295 and Baymeadows Road, is the first of three hybrid centers that UF Health Jacksonville is building in Northeast Florida. Two others are under construction and will open soon on Lane Avenue and New Kings Road.
The project is being developed in collaboration with Dallas-based Intuitive Health. Jacksonville is the third location in the state that will host the hybrid model. Intuitive Health has similarly affiliated facilities in the southeastern and northwestern parts of the state, but the UF Health centers will be the first in the northeast region of Florida.
“This new concept has had tremendous success in other parts of the country because it gives consumers different options in emergency care under one roof,” said Russ Armistead, CEO of UF Health Jacksonville. “The most important thing is a health care professional determines if the patient needs emergency care or urgent care. No matter which option, they will be getting the best possible care from our outstanding physicians and professional staff.”
The centers will feature a full-service ER and urgent care open 24/7. Each facility will be equipped with on-site lab equipment and a radiology suite with X-ray and multi-slice CT scanners, and will be staffed with board-certified emergency medicine physicians. An emergency medicine specialist will examine each patient and determine the appropriate level of care.
“This is just the first step in giving patients throughout Northeast Florida a new option in outstanding care,” said Andy Godwin, M.D., FACEP, chair of the department of emergency medicine for the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville. “These state-of-the-art facilities will help people who are unsure of whether they should go to an emergency department or an urgent care center. Experts will be there from the moment they arrive to determine the best options so patients get the care they need.”
Key features of the hybrid concept are a commitment to billing transparency with no surprise bills. Patients will only pay for the level of care they need. The facilities will also accept most insurance plans, along with Medicare and Medicaid.
“We are excited to open our first UF Health Emergency and Urgent Care Center,” said Thom Herrmann, CEO of Intuitive Health. “Together, we are bringing a totally new health care experience to Jacksonville's residents — changing how patients access, receive and pay for health care.”
About UF Health Jacksonville
UF Health Jacksonville (UFHealthJax.org) is a private, not-for-profit hospital, part of University of Florida Health, a world-class academic health center that combines leading-edge research at campuses around Florida with outstanding clinical care at a network of hospitals around the state. In Jacksonville, UF Health includes University of Florida faculty, residents and fellows within the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville, who team up with outstanding caregivers and other employees to provide state-of-the-art services to residents throughout Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. Our mission is to heal, to comfort, to educate and to discover, in an environment where exemplary medical care complements outstanding service.
About Intuitive Health
Founded in 2008, Intuitive Health pioneered the combined emergency room and urgent care model. Intuitive Health partners with established health systems nationwide to build, operate and launch retail health care facilities that provide urgent care and emergency room services under one roof. Current partners include Baptist Health Care in Pensacola, Florida; Baptist Health in Kentucky; Northwest Health in Arkansas; Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico; HonorHealth in Arizona; ProMedica in Ohio; Riverview Health in Indiana; UF Health Jacksonville in Florida, and its flagship center, Legacy ER & Urgent Care, with six locations in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. Intuitive Health's patient-centered retail-care model is built on a proven business system focused on concierge-level customer service and transparency. Each facility has onsite lab equipment, a radiology suite with X-ray and multi-slice CT scanners, and are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Every patient is examined by a board-certified and ER-licensed physician, regardless of the level of care they need. As an objective criterion, the physician determines if the appropriate care is emergent or urgent care. Patients are billed accordingly, only paying for the care they require which eliminates inappropriate emergency room utilization. This proven model establishes a cost-effective, more personal and time-efficient way to deliver high-quality medical service at the appropriate cost. For more information, please visit iheruc.com.
Featured Faculty
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Steven A. Godwin, MD, FACEP
Professor
Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine; Assistant Dean, Simulation Education; Program Director, Patient Safety Fellowship