I hope you enjoyed the holidays safely and have returned feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new year.

There are great things in store for our enterprise in 2021. We are moving forward with future plans, upgrades and expansions across Jacksonville that put us closer to achieving our vision of being the region’s most valued health care asset. Last year, we were faced with unexpected challenges, forcing us to pivot, change processes and, in some cases, change the way we did business. However, thanks to the efforts, innovative ideas and hard work of faculty and staff, we made it through and have come out on the other side stronger than we were before.

Upgrades and renovations to the downtown campus continue. In November, we opened a new MRI suite on the first floor of the Clinical Center, featuring a 3T MRI scanner. This year, we plan to install a new digital CT scanner. Additionally, a new Office of Student Affairs for the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville will open in a renovated space in the Borland Library to help support the development of the regional medical school.

Thanks to a donation from the Avalon Fund, the UF Health Brain Wellness Center is slated to open this summer. Likewise, planning and development are underway for a new ambulatory surgery center and medical office building, targeted to open in 2022. We are also moving forward with plans to build several facilities throughout Jacksonville that will have an urgent care center and an emergency room in a single location. This is a brand-new concept for the First Coast.

While there are exciting plans ahead, it’s important to recognize the great strides we’ve made over the last few years. We opened new facilities throughout Jacksonville in 2019 and 2020, which have done well in spite of the pandemic. UF Health Wildlight and UF Health Family Medicine – Crystal Springs recently celebrated one-year anniversaries. UF Health Imaging Center – Baymeadows will celebrate its one-year anniversary this March, followed by UF Health Rehabilitation – Wildlight in October. I look forward to seeing these locations continue to grow over the next year.

Although 2020 is over, COVID-19 is still a major part of our everyday lives. Vaccine administration is underway, but please continue to stay safe by practicing physical distancing and wearing your masks. As always, thank you for all the work you do at UF Health Jacksonville. It’s your expertise and knowledge that allows us to better serve our patients and the community.

Sincerely,

Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, MHSA

CEO, UF Health Jacksonville

Dean, UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville