Florida Medical Center history

On November 5, 1918, a small, 50-bed community hospital named Orange General Hospital opened its doors to Central Florida.

In 1920, the site was purchased by the United States government and after extensive renovations, the first patient was admitted on December 6, 1920.

Established in 1923, the College of Pharmacy is the oldest college in the UF Academic Health Center.

Doctor Townes R. Leigh becomes director and later Dean when the school becomes a College in 1925.

President Harry S. Truman initially approved the establishment of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Gainesville in October 1945.

In 1946, the hospital changed its name from Orange General Hospital to Orange Memorial Hospital.

In 1948, the hospital created Florida’s second Cancer Control Clinic, where patients were seen by a six-doctor committee.

In 1951, Orange Memorial Hospital was designated one of Florida’s first teaching hospitals by the American Medical Association.

The College of Medicine, the largest of six colleges at the University of Florida Academic Health Center, opened in 1956 with a mission to increase Florida's supply of highly qualified physicians, provide advanced health-care services to Florida residents and foster discovery in health research.

Construction began on January 16, 1964.

The five story, 480-bed hospital began admitting patients in October 1967.

At its founding in 1968, Nashville-based HCA Healthcare was one of the nation's first hospital companies.

After graduation, he started a new firm, Symon, Tully & Booth, which evolved into the partnership of Crossland Realty with Jack Buford in 1971.

Capital Regional Medical Center's history starts in 1974 when Tallahassee native Jim Tully envisioned a new hospital on an undeveloped area 'way out' on Capital Circle.

In 1975, an $8.5 million expansion project added outpatient surgery facilities, a 40,000 square foot outpatient rehabilitation building, multilevel parking garage, the Central Florida Radiation Center and renovated the existing physical plant.

In 1977 he began a different kind of battle.

He would be so happy today to see what it has become." Jim Tully died in 1978, at the age of 50, one year before Capital Medical Center opened its doors.

CMC began serving patients in the fall of 1979.

ORMC was designated a regional trauma center in 1981 and won approval to install a helipad on the roof.

In 1982, ORMC again restructured and established the Orlando Health Network, Inc.

In 1984 ORMC welcomed SARA, which stands for “System for Anesthetic and Respiratory Analysis.

In 1985 it was granted another Certificate of Need, this time to expand and renovate the hospital.

The $11 million project was completed and approved by the state in 1988.

And in 1989 TCH launched its open-heart surgery program - a significant expansion of life-saving heart care in the community.

In May 1991, ORMC began the biggest expansion project to date.

The results of that survey in 1992 led ORMC to change the corporate name to Orlando Regional Healthcare System (ORHS). ORMC would now be the flagship medical center under the ORHS corporate umbrella.

The company continued its technological shift in 1994 by transferring clinical information to a computerized system.

By the year 2000, the hospital had opened a new Progressive Care Unit and an 18-bed orthopedic/neurology unit.

With all of the growth in medical services, TCH announced it would build a new $100 million replacement hospital to be completed by 2003.

Heart of Florida Health Center began in 2007 with financial support from Munroe Regional Medical Center, Ocala Regional Medical Center, the Marion County Commissioners, and Department of Health.

In 2008, the building was totally renovated and modernized by the county to provide a pleasant patient atmosphere, primarily funded by the generous donations and in-kind contributions of many local contractors and private individuals.

In 2009, it was announced that Lucerne Hospital, a smaller independent hospital within Orlando Health, would become the Lucerne Pavilion, a part of ORMC. The separate buildings now form one hospital.

Enabling work for this project began in October 2011.

Official groundbreaking on the project is set to take place sometime in 2012.