Our Journey

1923-2000

1923 UF College of Pharmacy established.

1956 The UF colleges of Medicine and Nursing established.

1958 On Oct. 20, the 400-bed UF Teaching Hospital opened. — UF College of Public Health and Health Professions (current name) established.

1965 UF developed Gatorade sports drink.

1967 The Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center (current name) opened and affiliated with UF.

1972 The UF college of Dentistry established.

1976 UF College of Veterinary Medicine established.

1983 The state’s first Level I trauma center opened at UF Health Jacksonville. — The ShandsCair emergency transport program began at UF Health Shands Hospital.

1985 UF Health TraumaOne flight program started.

1999 Shands Jacksonville was created when UF, Shands HealthCare, University Medical Center and Methodist Medical Center affiliated as one health care institution, becoming the Gainesville-based health system’s urban, North Florida campus.

2000-2021

2006 UF Health Proton Therapy Institute opened.

2008 The UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute opened.

2009 UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital opened, with 192 private rooms and 12 operating rooms. — The UF Health Shands E.R. and Level I trauma center opened in its new facility in Gainesville. The new E.R. and trauma center was the largest in the region and was designed upon opening to manage up to 100,000 cases per year.

2011 The UF Health Shands Pediatric E.R. opened with its own entrance, 13 patient treatment rooms and two waiting rooms.

2014 UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital got a significant makeover with a new family-centered entrance and lobby to welcome young guests and their loved ones.

2015 The UF Health North medical office building opened. — The Florida governor and Department of Health recognized the UF Health Cancer Center as a state-designated Cancer Center of Excellence. — The George T. Harrell, M.D., Medical Education Building opened.

2016 The UF Health Emergency Center at Kanapaha opened as our second freestanding, 911-receiving, 24/7 E.R.

2017 Three new hospitals opened, the UF Health Heart & Vascular Hospital and the UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital in Gainesville and UF Health North in Jacksonville.

2018 UF Health Shands hospitals and programs earned a fourth-consecutive Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the ultimate “gold standard” measure of nursing achievement.

2019 The UF Health Wildlight medical office complex opened as part of a master-planned community in Nassau County.

2020 UF Health Shands acquired Central Florida Health, with hospitals located in The Villages® and Leesburg. — The 173-room Hotel ELEO opened for the convenience of patients and their families.