UF officials announced Monday that the hospital system UF&Shands was renamed UF Health.
The change is a product of research and development by the hospital and has been in the works for several months, said Melissa Blouin, director of news and publications for UF Health.
She also said that while the hospital system tried to make as many changes as possible in time for the announcement, it will likely take several more months until all of the signage and logos are updated.
“We don’t want people to have to throw away their current stuff,” Blouin said.
The hospital name familiar to most people — Shands — is here to stay.
However, the hospital itself will now be UF Health Shands Hospital, according to the release.
“There is a family legacy in Gainesville, and the name [Shands] is not going away,” Blouin said.
Shands Jacksonville, a separate private hospital, will be changing to UF Health Jacksonville, and ShandsCair, the emergency transport service at UF, will keep its current name.
All of the health-focused colleges at UF will also retain their current names with the exception of the cancer center, which will become the UF Health Cancer Center, according to the press release.
Contact Matt Riva at mriva@alligator.org.
