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Healthcare is a leading industry in the region with local hospitals acting as trailblazers, attracting medical tourists and serving as large employers in the area.

Many of the area’s hospitals have recently expanded their campuses adding new specialties, extending their reach and looking towards the future.

St. Vincent’s Medical Center Serves the Community

Ascension, the nation’s largest Catholic and non-profit healthcare system, is the parent company of St. Vincent’s Medical Center. With 5,000 employees in the area, St. Vincent’s is growing rapidly and is looking for new talent.

In the past three years, St. Vincent’s has added more than 55 physicians and invested in its Clay County campus that was completed in 2013.

It is now building a heart and vascular pavilion at its Riverside location. The 54,000-square-foot pavilion will include 30 medical and surgical rooms along with 30 intensive care rooms that will primarily be used for patients with heart and vascular needs. The pavilion includes two nursing units devoted to caring for patients who undergo open-heart surgeries and other cardiovascular procedures.

For low-level illness and injuries, patients can video chat with a physician for a small fee. “St. Vincent’s On Demand,” launches from the hospital’s website and is a virtual doctor’s visit.

Baptist Health Ready to Grow with Jacksonville

Baptist Health is the largest health system in the community, with almost a third of all patients that go to a hospital in Jacksonville seeking services at one of Baptist Health’s locations.

There are three pillars the health system hopes to achieve moving forward. The first is becoming more comprehensive in clinical services offered through expanding behavioral health options. Growing the hospital regionally is the second and becoming more consumer responsive through embracing technological innovation is the third.

Following an extensive national search, Baptist Health recently selected a new president and CEO. Brett S. McClung, FACHE, is joining Baptist Health from Texas Health Resources, one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit health care systems in the United States, with 29 hospitals serving nearly 7 million people. He will assume the role in early July, succeeding Hugh Greene, FACHE, who has been with Baptist Health since 1989 and served as its CEO for the past 19 years.

UF Health Jacksonville Expands Vision

The first heart transplant in Northeast Florida was completed in the late ’90s by the medical complex known today as UF Health Jacksonville.

Over the next two decades, the hospital plans to work on a number of initiatives that could transform the area around its campus in the Springfield neighborhood. The hospital hopes to bring more food and shopping options to the area as well as workforce housing.

UF Health is looking regionally, as well, including opening a medical complex in Wildlight, a 2,900-acre master planned community in Nassau County, which should be completed later this year. The 42,000-square-foot facility will feature office and medical space for primary care using a patient-centered model focused on prevention and early diagnosis, urgent care staffed by emergency medicine faculty, imaging services, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, mental health services, dentistry and a laboratory.

UF Health is also working on improving metrics and creating a seamless healthcare experience with the help of an integrated electronic health record called “Epic.”

For more information, visit the Jacksonville Business Journal.