History

Our legacy began in 1870 as Florida's first nonmilitary hospital. Known then as Duval Hospital and Asylum, it became the cornerstone for the medical complex that is known today as UF&Shands Jacksonville. In 1901, Brewster Nursing School, which later became Methodist Medical Center (MMC), opened to care for victims of the great fire of Jacksonville.

In 1971, University Hospital, a city-owned 485-bed medical facility, opened across the street from MMC. In 1982, University Hospital became University Medical Center (UMC), a private notfor-profit organization that contracted with the city of Jacksonville to operate the facility and provide care for the uninsured. The next year, UMC opened the first Level I trauma center in Florida, complete with long-range air ambulance service.

The Jacksonville Health Education Program based at UMC became an extension service of the UF College of Medicine in 1969. UMC and the UF faculty programs were designated as an urban campus of the University of Florida in 1988, strengthening the educational relationship between the hospital, the University of Florida and the City of Jacksonville.

In 1999, UMC and MMC combined to become Shands Jacksonville, affiliated with the University of Florida.

Timeline and Medical Firsts

1870
Jacksonville's first hospital and Florida's first non-military hospital, Duval Hospital and Asylum (later to become University Hospital) is established at the corner of Jessie St. and Franklin St.
1901
George A. Brewster Hospital and School of Nurse Training (later to become Methodist Hospital) opens to care for victims of the Great Fire of Jacksonville.
1922
The Duval County Welfare Board takes control of Duval Hospital, which becomes a tuberculosis sanitarium on Jefferson St.
1925
The first residency program in the state opens at Duval Hospital.
1926
Duval Hospital is renamed Duval County Hospital.
1948
Duval County Hospital offers the first cancer program in Florida.

The facility is renamed Duval Medical Center.
1960
First radiation oncology program in Jacksonville.

First open heart surgery in Jacksonville.
1967
Brewster Hospital moves to Jefferson and Eighth St., and reopens as the not-for-profit Methodist Hospital.
1969
First pediatric cardiology program in the city.

First hemodialysis unit for end-stage renal disease in Jacksonville.
1971
A new 485-bed facility opens as University Hospital of Jacksonville, across from Methodist Hospital.
1972
First gynecologic oncology program in Jacksonville.

First neonatology program in Jacksonville.
1978
City's first Level III neonatal intensive care unit.

First electronic microscope in Jacksonville.
1980
First comprehensive hospice program in Florida.
1982
University Hospital becomes a private, not-for-profit facility and contracts with the City of Jacksonville to provide indigent care. University Medical Center, Inc., assumes operation of the hospital.
1983
The hospital's trauma center is the first in the state to be granted Level I status.

City's first hospital-affiliated primary care center.
1984
First pediatric sickle cell program in north Florida.
1985
University Hospital is designated an affiliate of the University of Florida, strengthening the educational relationship of the two entities and establishing the UF Health Science Center Jacksonville.
1988
University Hospital is designated the metropolitan campus for the Gainesville-based UF Health Science Center. All physician faculty based in Jacksonville become UF faculty.
1989
University Hospital is renamed University Medical Center.

First kidney transplant in Northeast Florida.
1993
Methodist Hospital is renamed Methodist Medical Center.
1996
The UF Southside Specialty Care Center, the first UF community-based multi-specialty practice, opened in Jacksonville.
1998
First heart transplant in Northeast Florida.
1999
University Medical Center and Methodist Medical Center merge, forming Shands Jacksonville, an affiliate of the University of Florida and Shands HealthCare.
2006
University of Florida opens the UF Proton Therapy Institute on the Shands Jacksonville campus, the first proton beam therapy facility in the Southeast.

First hospital in the Southeast with VeinViewer technology.
2008
Shands Jacksonville Advanced Breast Imaging Center is the first in the region to offer 3-D breast ultrasound.
2010
UF surgeons at Shands Jacksonville are the first in the region to perform gastric imbrication, a surgical weight loss procedure with no cutting, stapling or removing stomach tissue and does not require a medical implant.
2011
The Shands Jacksonville Breast Health Center is the first imaging center in North Florida to offer 3-D digital breast tomography.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration approves Shands Jacksonville's Certificate of Need application to construct a new, 100-bed medical campus in north Jacksonville.