• UF Health announced plans this week to open a new hospital in Ocala. The university anticipates an early 2024 opening date
• The facility will encompass 150,000 square feet and is being constructed to hold 10 emergency rooms, 10 inpatient rooms, a medical imaging facility, and four operating rooms
• The facility’s emergency service capabilities will be facilitated using seven emergency rooms, as well as a triage room and a trauma center

UF Health announced plans this week to open a new hospital in Ocala. With construction currently underway, the university anticipates an opening date in the first half of 2024.

The new, three-story, 150,000-square-foot hospital will have 10 emergency rooms, 10 inpatient rooms, a medical imaging facility, four operating rooms, and a variety of additional medical services.

“Many families in the Ocala area have entrusted UF Health with the care of their family and loved ones. Now, they will have access to quality emergency care, surgical services, and an inpatient hospital even closer to home,” said David R. Nelson, senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health.

The facility’s emergency service capabilities will be facilitated using seven emergency rooms, as well as a triage room and a trauma room. The surgical facility will also have 12 pre- and post-operative beds in addition to the operating rooms.

The imaging center will include two general x-ray rooms, two computerized tomography (CT) rooms, an ultrasound room, and one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suite.

On the second and third floors, patients will find physical therapy and rehabilitation services, an anesthesia pre-operative center, and physician’s offices, according to the university.

“Patients can take great comfort knowing they will have convenient access to emergency care and surgical services that are run by a highly respected, nationally ranked medical system,” said James J. Kelly, Jr., interim CEO of UF Health Shands. “Our patients continue to seek out UF Health for its unmatched commitment to medical care. It is especially satisfying to be able to serve residents of the Ocala area right where they live and work,” he said.

The new Ocala hospital is the latest effort from UF to bring health care to residents throughout central and north Florida.

UF Health purchased hospitals in Leesburg and The Villages at the beginning of 2020, also starting an expansion in March that involves the construction of a second inpatient tower at its north Jacksonville site

More recently, state officials recently committed $80 million for a state-of-the-art trauma center at UF Health Jacksonville.

UF Health Shands Hospital also has more nationally ranked adult and pediatric specialties than any hospital in Florida, according to the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings.