UF Health plans to open a new emergency clinic for residents of northwest Gainesville and Alachua County.
Officials will celebrate the opening of the UF Health Shands Emergency Center – Springhill, 8491 NW 39th Ave., Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and building tours. It’s scheduled to open officially in early August, according to a news release.
UF Health Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President Ed Jimenez said the opening of new department is in response to the town’s population growth.
“We’ve seen an increasing demand in emergency centers in this area,” he said. “So opening this department is another piece to other emergency departments.”
The clinic will be open all day, every day.
Jimenez said that as a whole, the new center cost about $10 million, which includes purchasing the property, equipment and hiring employees.
The emergency center is equipped with 10 treatment spaces for patients, an on-site lab and diagnostic radiology services including X-ray and CT imaging systems, according to the release. Physicians and nurses trained in emergency medicine will staff the 8,500-square-foot building.
Health science senior Adrian Taylor, 21, said he’s glad to see the new center because it will provide something positive for the community.
“This does not only provide jobs for UF graduates,” Taylor said, “but shows the benefits the community gets when UF advances.”
