Flagler Hospital

Description

About Flagler Hospital
Flagler Hospital is a 316 bed acute care hospital that has been ranked among the top 5 of all hospitals in the nation for both clinical excellence and patient safety for the past six consecutive years and was named one of Americas 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades in 2011 The hospital has operated as a notforprofit healthcare institution in St Augustine Florida since its founding in 1889

Flagler has earned the Commission on Cancers Outstanding Achievement Award and was Northeast Floridas first hospital to receive the ANCC Magnet hospital award In recent years the hospital has earned accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission for Primary Stroke Care Centers and Center of Excellence Designation for its Bariatric Surgery Center To learn more about all of our services click on the medical services tab above

History

Over a century ago the only public hospital within a 100mile area between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach was Alicia Hospital located on Tremerton Street in downtown St Augustine At the time this was the southern end of the city limits The founding of Alicia Hospital culminated a campaign begun by Industrialist Henry M Flagler

Henry Flagler wanted to establish a hospital in the city of his new residence and enlisted the aid of many of the towns influential ladies including winter residents Challenging them with a proposal they could scarcely refuse Flagler assembled the ladies in the rotunda of his opulent Ponce de Leon Hotel now Flagler College on May 22 1888 He proposed a plan to provide a hospital for the community if they would form an organization to maintain the facility The women accepted the challenge and immediately went to work planning fundraising events and soliciting contributions The new notforprofit institution opened on March 1 1890

Through the years the hospital experienced many changes including being renamed quotFlagler Hospitalquot in 1905 to honor its original founder Fire destroyed most of the buildings in 1916 Temporary quarters for Flagler Hospital patients were found in local residences while plans proceeded for the design of a quotnewquot structure that would adequately meet the health care needs of the growing community

With a generous donation from Mary Lily Kenan Flagler third wife of the late Henry Flagler an elegant threestory brick and concrete building with a stucco finish was built The dedication exercise and open house on January 5 1921 attracted over 2000 people

During the 1930s the Flagler Hospital maintained a consistent patient load of 60 to 70 admissions per month with about half that number occupying beds at the end of the month In 1932 the nurses training school which had begun in 1913 closed due to new state laws requiring training schools to be affiliated with more than one hospital

The year 1943 saw the number of patients cared for skyrocket to almost 200 per month with the birth rate running close to 40 per month A serious problem in rising hospital costs was addressed in 1946 Food cost of cotton and Xray film had increased dramatically Dr Vernon A Lockwood chief surgeon suggested that the charge for private rooms be increased by 100 daily and that nursery charges be raised from 150 and 225 daily to 150 and 450 The 10day maternity fee was suggested at 10000 for private rooms and 7000 for ward beds Operating room costs jumped to 2000 for major operations and 1000 for minor Meanwhile the Ancient City was continuing to grow The population of St Augustine had reached 13555

The decade of the fifties dawned brightly with great promise for the future of health care in the growing city Flagler Hospital trustees realizing the need to increase medical facilities in the community began by remodeling the south wing of the hospital adding a clinic and office space for doctors New facilities opened with a modern laboratory and complete physiotherapy and hydrotherapy rooms With the announcement of the Florida East Coast Railroad Hospital closing its doors Flagler began planning to meet yet another level of demand from the community it served The East Coast Hospital remained open until September 1963 which gave Flagler time to complete the construction of a west wing and the renovation of the entire existing facility

During the 1970s Flagler Hospital was attracting new physicians in diverse medical specialties The hospital constructed a spacious new medical annex known as the AndersonGibbs Building to offer these physicians a place to practice Also during the 1970s Flagler Hospital expanded its operating room facilities and opened the areas first hospitalbased psychiatric services

In 1979 the trustees made a commitment to increased development of care for cardiac patients The need for new services such as echocardiograms and cardiac stress tests was followed by the need for specific pulmonary diagnostic procedures

The 1980s spelled a time of optimistic but cautious consideration and planning of health care in St Augustine County population now surpassed 50000 Community growth was creating an access problem for patients and their families coming to Flagler Hospital on Marine Street Also the growth in demand for health care services required a much larger facility

In 1989 Flagler Hospital was moved from the Marine St location expanding to a new 75acre Health Park located at US Highway 1 Along with increased square footage for patient care came many new and expanded departments of medicine including The Cancer Center The Heart Center The Imaging Center The Spine Center The Womens Health Center and The Bariatric Surgery Center