Statewide Impact and the Future

UF Health contributes more than $4.6 billion to Florida’s overall economy, through direct and indirect expenditures, according to the most recent economic impact study conducted by the University of Florida. The clinical enterprise’s direct employment and indirect spending account for 33,000 jobs. UF Health has affiliations with several other health systems across Central, North Central and northern Florida that enhance and support our patient care mission.

Along with the College of Medicine – Jacksonville, the colleges of Nursing and Pharmacy also offer degree programs in Jacksonville, and the College of Pharmacy has an Orlando campus at the University of Florida Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona. The College of Dentistry has advanced educational programs in St. Petersburg, Naples and Hialeah. The College of Veterinary Medicine offers emergency services and acupuncture in Ocala and visits farms and ranches throughout the state, caring for animals where they live.

UF Health has experienced tremendous growth. Total revenue for the academic health center grew from $2.7 billion to $4.7 billion over the past decade, an increase of 76%. Clinical revenue accounted for 80% of the total. Research growth has contributed to a rise in stature for our health colleges and for our teaching hospitals, with research awards totaling $425.5 million in FY20. UF Health attributes the continued growth to our balanced research portfolio and the university’s efforts to recruit and retain the best and the brightest in their fields.

Physician office visits by Gainesville-based faculty have grown significantly, increasing by more than 34% from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2020, and totaling nearly 1 million annual patient visits. Physician office visits for Jacksonville-based faculty have increased nearly 8% percent from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2020, totaling more than 650,000. Hospital admissions have increased by 3% since 2010. E.R. visits have increased nearly 38% since 2010.

The most visible sign of growth is through our facilities. Over the past decade, UF Health has added more than 5 million square feet of new space, including five hospitals, numerous outpatient facilities, a hotel for families of patients, and research and education space throughout our health campuses. Our clinical enterprise now spans more than 5.2 million square feet across Gainesville, and almost 3.8 million square feet in Jacksonville, including our newest facilities in Wildlight. The acquisition of Central Florida Health, which includes hospitals in The Villages® and Leesburg, in early 2020 added another 1.2 million square feet to our UF Health footprint.

At UF Health Jacksonville, exponential growth has occurred across North Florida. UF Health has 35 primary care and pediatric practices throughout Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. Facility expansion continues in Jacksonville: The UF Health North medical office building opened in 2015, followed by UF Health North in 2017. That same year, the health system expanded rehabilitation services on Jacksonville’s Southside to a new, highly advanced 10,000-square-foot facility. In 2018, the Jacksonville Aging Studies Center, or JAX-ASCENT, opened as a dedicated space for conducting NIH-sponsored clinical and behavioral translational research on aging. The UF Health Wildlight medical office building opened in 2019, followed by a wellness center in 2020 that houses UF Health rehabilitation services and a YMCA. The two facilities are part of the Wildlight master-planned community in Nassau County.

Affiliated with UF Health, the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center, or VAMC, serves as a training ground for students at the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Public Health and Health Professions in Gainesville. Faculty from the colleges of Medicine and Nursing who practice there also are growing the body of knowledge that leads to improvements in health care and wellness for military service members, veterans and their families.

UF Health and the VAMC are committed to creating a new generation of doctors, medical schools and research facilities that collectively ensure our heroes receive the care worthy of their service, while meeting their unique health care needs, including treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Note: Ascension Sacred Heart, Halifax Health, Select Medical, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Veterans Affairs Medical Center are affiliated with UF Health.