UF Health acquires Flagler Health to expand coverage into St. Johns County
University of Florida Health announced its acquisition of Flagler Health Wednesday, a major move that will impact healthcare around northern Florida.
Top officials say the merger is intended to expand and increase the quality of care throughout St. Johns County and its surrounding region. The coverage area includes St. Augustine, which is about 50 miles northeast of Gainesville.
As one of the largest healthcare networks in the southeast, UF Health originally announced the agreement in May, with university leaders lauding its merger with Flagler Health.
UF Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini joined UF President Ben Sasse in praising the decision to increase UF Health’s outreach to northeast Florida in a release.
“This is a win-win-win situation,” Hosseini said. “We are a university and a health system on the rise, and this is a community on the rise, one we are very proud to be a part of. This is a huge step forward.”
The announcement comes after news in December that UF Health was expanding into Marion County with the construction of a hospital in Ocala. In 2020, the network took over hospitals in Leesburg and The Villages. It’s also in the process of expanding its Jacksonville hospital with an $80 million trauma unit, for which state funding was recently approved.
UF's healthcare system has been widely praised as one of the best in the country. Last week, The Wall Street Journal announced that UF was the No. 1 public university in the country, which follows a News & World Report list that places UF at No. 5.
UF Health Shands is also the only health system in Florida that has consistently ranked in the top three Florida hospitals for 10 years running.
More: Ben Sasse to move forward with 10-year strategic plan for future of University of Florida
Flagler Health+ and UF Health celebrated the merger and provided more insight into what will change at a press conference in St. Augustine on Wednesday morning.
Dr. David Nelson, UF Health’s chair of its Board of Directors and the network’s president, said the facilities will receive an electronic health record system and new clinical equipment.
Future investments into Flagler expansions will also become more possible with more access to financial capital, he said.
“Improving the health of our communities is why we exist,” Nelson said. “Bringing together the expertise of both organizations will create the environment to make that happen.”
New hospital names
This also means St. Johns County residents will need to get used to different facility names. Flagler Hospital will now be known as UF Health Flagler Hospital and Flagler Health+ will become UF Health St. Johns, said Carlton DeVooght, Flagler Health+ CEO.
UF Health St. Johns will serve as a regional healthcare hub, focused on providing care to Flagler, St. Johns, Putnam, Clay and Duval counties.
Preserving Flagler Hospital’s name was important to retaining the trust of local residents, he said.
In addition to its hospital in St. Augustine, Flagler Health+ boasts several primary and urgent care offices across the county as well as labs, orthopedics specialists, and imaging centers.
Existing services will not experience interruptions and there are no current plans to lay off any Flagler Health+ employees, according to a website detailing the transition. UF Health will steadily focus on employee retention.
“All of us at Flagler Health+ understood that UF Health was the right choice so that we could continue our tradition of caring for our community and our commitment to our team,” DeVooght said. “This relationship brings the latest medical breakthroughs to the people we have served for more than a century, while greatly enhancing the services available.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: UF Health announces acquisition of Flagler Health
