UF Health Shands Hospital opened an additional health emergency center in southwest Gainesville on Monday.
The new UF Health Emergency Center — Kanapaha, located at 7405 SW Archer Road, is expected to officially open within the next 10 days upon final state approval. If approved, the $10 million facility will be open 24 hours, 7 days a week every day of the year.
The Kanapaha location is the fourth Shands emergency center, said Dr. Adrian Tyndall, the chairman of the UF department of emergency medicine.
“We strategically located the centers in places where we feel we will be able to meet the demand for care across the community, and that’s our pledge,” he said.
Kanapaha will have 13 beds, but with rapid turnover, Tyndall said the center will be able to see more than 100 patients a day. It will operate like other emergency rooms by providing services to anyone with an urgent need. However, the center is not equipped for trauma patients.
The new center is larger than the Springhill Health Center, which received over 35,000 patients, twice as many than originally predicted for the year. The new location will help alleviate the demand from Springhill location, Tyndall said.
Shands CEO Ed Jimenez said the new center should be able to provide the same level of care to other parts of Gainesville with about 100 employees working at the center.
“I think it’s part of the idea that we need to bring care closer to the community,” he said.
Jimenez said he expects between 15,000 and 18,000 patients at the new location within the first year.
Tyndall, who directs all four emergency centers, said adding the Kanapaha location will help Shands meet a rising demand for medical care in Gainesville.
“I’m focused on making sure that we can provide the best and most efficient care that we possibly can,” he said.
The new UF Health Emergency Center — Kanapaha, located at 7405 SW Archer Road, is expected to officially open within the next 10 days upon final state approval. If approved, the $10 million facility will be open 24/7 every day of the year.
