On Oct. 10, 1961, former President John F. Kennedy authorized the building of a 500-bed veterans hospital. It would sit near UF on 31 acres. Then, on Oct. 22, 1967, the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center opened its doors to patients.
At that time, the facility had eight beds in each room, which were the size of an average bedroom, Hospital Deputy Director Wende Dotter said.
Hospital technology in the 1960s did not require as much space as it does now, Dotter said.
Now, every room requires machines to monitor vitals and administer medications. The need for space has caused the VA to expand inside the hospital, Dotter said.
As a result, there is construction on every floor. This has created problems for patients, sometimes causing them to be late for their appointments.
The facility will never not have projects, but some will be done soon, Dotter said.
The MRI project, which replaced one outdated machine and one that was flooded from Hurricane Irma, will be done this fall. The intensive care unit will be complete this upcoming spring.
One of the big projects is adding two offices for mental health professionals in the primary care area, she said. This will allow patients to be helped immediately if they show signs of depression.
The goal of the construction is to convert the old hospital from the 1960s to clinics for outpatient services, she said.
The cost of all the projects in the area is $60 million, with $45 to $50 million going to the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, she said.
“Once some of the projects are done, it will be great for patients since the clinics will be closer to each other,” said Daniel Henry, a public information specialist at the VA Medical Center. “We’ll be able to help veterans more efficiently with these improvements.”
The Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, in Gainesville, gets needed updates.
