North Florida Regional Medical Center (NFRMC) is a 432 bed, full-service medical and surgical acute care center serving North Central Florida and offering comprehensive cardiovascular care, oncology, orthopedics, neurosciences, minimally-invasive laparoscopic and robotic surgery, weight loss surgery and treatment, women’s health and wound therapy, among other services. By the end of 2020, NFRMC will have 510 beds in the facility with the scheduled completion of the South Tower Expansion Project. This project will add three additional floors to the hospital in an effort to provide additional postpartum and Intensive Care Unit services, a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and expanded orthopedic services. NFRMC is a member of the Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services. HCA Healthcare is comprised of 184 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 21 states and the United Kingdom.
Most people know NFRMC as Gainesville’s community hospital, but it is so much more. It is an advanced tertiary level medical center providing high quality care to patients in North Central Florida and beyond. In 2020, NFRMC will be a leading innovator in cardiovascular, oncology and women’s and children’s services with a nationally recognized TAVR program, newly instituted HIPEC program and the development of a Level III NICU as a result of the $90 million South Tower Expansion project.
NFRMC’s cardiovascular program has continued to grow throughout the hospital’s history. With this growth comes the desire to continuously improve their care and to tap into innovations to ensure the care they provide is always the best option for the patient. One example of that advancement is Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, also known as TAVR. Previously, open-heart surgery has been the standard-of-care for aortic valve replacement in low risk patients.
The invasiveness of this procedure has a hindrance on the patient’s recovery and comes with some risk of potential serious complications. However, for appropriately selected patients, TAVR is an even more minimally invasive procedure with a much quicker recovery process for the patient. TAVR patients become mobile hours after the procedure, and greater than 90% of patients are discharged home the following morning. The TAVR team at NFRMC is proud to have top quality metrics of exceptionally low mortality and morbidity, stroke, Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) rates and discharge time that place the program as one of the top in the country.
Cancer is a disease that affects our society on a global level, and the oncology team at NFRMC is dedicated to providing the most cutting-edge technology and procedures to their patients. An example of this is the HIPEC Procedure (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy). Dr. Francisco Macedo of North Florida Surgical Oncology performed NFRMC’s first HIPEC procedure in December 2019, which resulted in a potential cure for a stage 4 metastatic cancer patient.
There are several complex and advanced abdominal cancers that can now be treated with the HIPEC procedure that were previously considered fatal. Because of the aggressiveness of these cancers and their inability to respond to traditional chemotherapy, they are considered a terminal disease.
The HIPEC procedure now gives these patients another treatment option to consider that can improve and extend their life, or even cure them of their cancer. Patients now do not have to leave the North Central Florida area to receive this life changing cancer treatment.
Most people who have been raised in Gainesville or reside here, can say that they’ve had their children at NFRMC, or were born there. 3,300 babies are born at NFRMC each year, and some of these babies are in need of the most advanced care.
As a result of the South Tower Expansion project, NFRMC is expanding their Level II NICU to a Level III NICU in 2020 so that they can care for the smallest and sickest of babies. They believe it is important to continue to elevate this care for all of their patients so that the Gainesville community doesn’t have to look elsewhere for their healthcare.
As their mission statement says, “Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life.” In doing that, NFRMC will continue to look at ways they can provide innovative and compassionate care to the Gainesville community.
