05:20 AM EST Share At UF Health and Baptist Health, leaders look toward returning to the strategic plans in place before COVID-19 struck.
Following a challenging 2020, area hospital leaders hope to normalize operations on their campuses as COVID-19 cases decline and vaccines are distributed.
“We’ve spent the last several months managing COVID,” said Dr. Leon Haley, CEO of UF Health Jacksonville.
“Now we’ve shifted into managing COVID recovery and vaccine distribution to the degree we’re able to participate in that process while still maintaining our focus on our strategic initiatives.”
UF Health Jacksonville is the third-largest hospital in Northeast Florida with 462 beds, according to 2019 Agency for Healthcare Administration data, the latest available, on Florida hospital finances. Eighteen area hospitals are listed in the data in Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Clay and Baker counties.
Baptist Health announced Jan. 7 it purchased an 86,000-square-foot VyStar Credit Union service center that it will convert into its second Baptist HealthPlace facility.
The deed filed in Clay County shows Baptist Health Properties Inc. paid $13.1 million Jan. 5 for the 12.33-acre property at 2310 Village Square Parkway on Fleming Island.
It is adjacent to the Baptist Clay Medical Campus, where a 100-bed hospital is under construction, according to the news release.
“With VyStar’s 11 additional acres, our new hospital will encompass more than 40 acres, giving us room to expand to meet the health needs of the growing Clay County community,” Darin Roark, hospital president for Baptist Clay, said in the release. “We are grateful to VyStar for providing us with the opportunity to expand our campus.”