HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest medical providers, announced on Tuesday that it purchased MD Now Urgent Care, a network of 59 urgent centers across Florida.
The purchase, of which the price has not been disclosed yet, depicts a trend where individuals increasingly turn to urgent care centers as opposed to primary care physicians due to their relative inexpensiveness compared to traditional hospitals and doctor’s offices, as well as a wide acceptance of most insurance providers.
“The addition of MD Now Urgent Care in Florida enhances our already strong capabilities in a rapidly growing state by providing convenient outpatient care options for our patients,” said Sam Hazen, HCA Healthcare’s chief executive officer. “It also connects MD Now patients to a comprehensive statewide network of care, including acute care and specialty services should they be needed.”
The move marks a further effort by HCA to move into the Florida market, coming less than two months after HCA committed to building 3 new care centers in Florida to assist in meeting the growing statewide demand for healthcare services. The three new spaces include a 90-bed acute care facility in Gainesville, a 100-bed hospital in Fort Myers, and a 60-bed hospital in The Villages.
HCA hopes that the new medical centers will help attract nurses and technicians to Florida, where a growing worker shortage looms among health care providers. Early estimates suggest that the state could face a nurse shortage of 60,000 people by 2035.
“Florida continues to experience rapid population growth, and the addition of these new hospitals will help HCA Florida Healthcare meet the increasing need for acute care services in these areas,” said Hazen. “We are excited to expand our presence in the state and enhance our ability to care for patients.”
HCA Healthcare recently underwent a rebrand in Florida to become HCA Florida Healthcare in an attempt to build a statewide brand.
The first facilities to adopt the brand in Florida included four existing hospitals, six freestanding emergency rooms, and a new, state-of-the-art hospital.
The statewide transformation is part of HCA’s larger plan to create a statewide brand to reflect the state’s extensive network of specialists and dedicated healthcare experts by the third quarter of 2022. These facilities are the first of more than 400 affiliated sites of care across the state to begin using the HCA Florida Healthcare moniker.
By spring 2022, the remaining sites of care in Florida, including hospitals, freestanding ERs, and physician practices, will officially adopt the HCA Florida Healthcare, uniting more than 11,000 medical staff physicians and more than 77,000 colleagues.
Florida will never attract more nurses as long as hospitals continue to allow short staffing and other unsafe working conditions. Nurses are educated and well aware of the work environment of Florida hospitals. It’s just a shame that articles like this are published not knowing the ACTUAL reason nurses leave the bedside here especially in Florida. Also, according to research from the department of labor, Florida has the largest surplus of nurses. Facts on healthcare would benefit our communities in Florida. Stop giving this company free range to exploit patients and nurses.