UF Health Shands earns spot on two national top 100 hospital lists
Becker’s Healthcare has named UF Health Shands in its 2020 edition as one of the nation’s “100 great hospitals in America.” UF Health Shands has been named as one of the nation’s great hospitals by Becker’s for at least seven straight years. Also, IBM Watson Health announced the health system made the 2020 Fortune/IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals list. UF Health Shands was the only health system in the Southeast U.S. in the “major teaching hospital” division of the list. Hospitals on that list had better results on a wide array of indicators, including mortality, length of stay, patient experience, clinical outcomes and infections. — Bill Levesque
Governor applauds UF Health The Villages® Hospital leaders in fight against COVID-19
Gov. Ron DeSantis met with medical professionals at UF Health The Villages® Hospital on July 6 to discuss how the hospital system and the community have been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. DeSantis applauded the way local leader have confronted the challenges brought on by the pandemic and also urged citizens to not let fear of the virus prevent them from seeking hospital care for other serious conditions. “People should realize the hospitals are a safe place to be,” he said. “They have capacity and great safety protocols. You’re less likely to get coronavirus here than at a lot of private residences.” — Frank Faust
UF College of Pharmacy moves up national rankings with record-setting year for research awards
The UF College of Pharmacy received a record $28.3 million in research awards in 2019, which moved the college higher in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, or AACP, research rankings. UF placed No. 3 nationally in National Institutes of Health funding ($23.1 million) and total federal funding ($24.3 million), and No. 4 in total funding ($28.3 million). In all three areas, the college saw substantial funding increases over the previous year. The college’s $28.3 million in research awards tops the $23.7 million earned in 2018. That year, UF ranked No. 4 among colleges of pharmacy in NIH and total funding and No. 5 in federal funding. The depth and breadth of research is evident by the 48 faculty members who secured funding as principal investigators or co-principal investigators on extramural grants during AACP’s reporting period from October 2018 to September 2019. — Matt Splett
UF Health awarded grant for telemedicine services for underserved pediatric patients
The UF College of Medicine’s department of pediatrics has been awarded a nearly $1 million federal grant to expand telemedicine services and equipment among underserved and vulnerable populations. The award from the Federal Communications Commission’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program will be used to acquire monitoring and diagnostic equipment, including tablet and laptop computers as well as Wi-Fi access points. It will also be used for specialized home monitoring equipment such as internet-connected stethoscopes, electrocardiogram equipment for heart monitoring, blood pressure cuffs, continuous blood-glucose monitors and otoscopes for ear, nose and throat evaluation. The funds will help an already robust pediatric telehealth program optimize care and give patients remote access to specialized providers during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. — Doug Bennett
