Munroe Regional Medical Center

Description

About Munroe
quotOcala must have a hospital to care for the sick and injuredquot
Over the years Munroe Regional Medical Centers true hallmark has been its commitment to its mission quotto improve the health of our community by delivering compassionate innovative care through exceptional people doing extraordinary

The Need for a Hospital

It all started back in 1898 when Mr Ben Rheinauer owner of a dry goods store was one of the first people to reach the side of a man who had just been accidentally run down by a horse and wagon as he attempted to cross Exposition Street now Broadway Dr E Van Hood and Dr La Foss joined quotMr Benquot as he rushed into the street to assist the victim whose leg was broken The man needed immediate medical attention and there was no place to take him except to Dr Van Hoods office where he was treated

As they removed the victim from the dusty unpaved street Mr Ben said quotThis is another example of why Ocala must have a hospital to care for the sick and injuredquot His remarks made in a moment of stress fired the imagination of other community leaders who had been discussing the need for a hospital for years

Joining Mr Ben and Dr Van Hood in planning the hospital were Dr S P Eagleton Dr AL Izlar CH Campbell and CL Bittinger editor of the Ocala Evening Daily Star The Rev JC Porter published The Star and owned a threestory building at the corner of Fort King and Osceola Mr Bittinger knew the top floor was empty and Rev Porter agreed to make it available free of charge for use as the temporary hospital which was named Marion General Hospital It was far from ideal because of the narrow stairs and limited space but it was a place to start and grow The new hospital had no orderlies and only a few nurses In emergencies doctors recruited help from The Star editorial and composing room staff located on the second floor

From the beginning it was obvious this location was inadequate In April 1901 the hospital moved to a threestory building located at the corner of Adams and Orange Street now Northwest Second Street and First Avenue It was an improvement particularly for access but remained a makeshift arrangement until 1915 when the third hospital move was made to a new frame building built on top of a hill on South OrangeStreet This beautifully located facility had broad cool verandas on both floors where convalescing patients could breathe the fresh air and enjoy the rolling landscape In an emergency the new hospital could take care of 50 patients In 1916 the Superintendents Report noted that the total hospital expenses for the year ran 6704 which included the salaries of the superintendent nurses cooks janitor chamber maid and laundresses There were 232 patients admitted that year with patients staying an average of 129 days In 2009 Munroe Regional admitted 24077 patients and the average length of stay was 439 days

With banker TT Munroe taking the lead lengthy discussions began to take place in the mid 1920s about building a larger facility on the same property As the result of the passage of a bond issue by City of Ocala voters a 73bed hospital was built in 1927 which today serves as administrative offices The hospital changed its name from Marion General Hospital to Munroe Memorial Hospital in honor of Mr Munroes leadership and contributions to the growth of the hospital

It wasnt too long after the Second World War that the issue of overcrowding and need for growth came to the forefront again Marion Countys population had grown from 28000 in 1928 to 43000 in 1956 Hospital admissions were continuing to grow and a decision was made to build in three phases By the early 1960s the phases had been completed and the hospital had 130 beds From the 70s to today there has been continued growth in healthcare developments and services at the hospital so much so that in 1980 Munroe Memorial Hospital changed its name to Munroe Regional Medical Center MRMC to reflect its depth of services and the expanded community that it was now serving By 1994 the hospitals continued expansion had brought its bed count to 323

In 2003 Munroe Regionals most recent expansion project was completed This 200000 square foot expansion project expanded the medical centers capacity to 421 beds and included 150 new private patient rooms

Community Healthcare

Expansion at Munroe Regional has gone beyond the walls of the hospital and includes other medical services to outlying areas ie Speech amp Hearing Center Midwives of Ocala Diabetes Healthways Munroe Regionals LifeTime Centers providing cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation as well as physical therapy in Ocala Belleview and Lady Lake and Munroe Regionals Medical Park at TimberRidge The Medical Park is home to medical offices a LifeTime Center an award winning Nursing amp Rehabilitation Center and Collins Health Resource Center In 2002 Munroe Regional opened the state of Floridas first freestanding emergency department Munroe Regionals Emergency Center at TimberRidge carries on the hospitals commitment to meeting the changing healthcare needs of the community The Emergency Center at TimberRidge emphasizes convenience efficiency and a rapid attentive response to patient needs Twentyfour hour staffing by a team of emergency specialists streamlined registration and processing 12 exam rooms as well as four additional rooms utilized for rapid nonurgent patients and cuttingedge technology combine to ensure quality effective treatment It is the same quality and effective emergency treatment that patients receive at Munroe Regionals downtown emergency department Since opening in 2002 the Emergency Center at TimberRidge has provided care to over 170550 patients

Beyond the Bricks and Mortar

Munroe Regionals President and CEO Steve Purves will be the first to tell you that theres a key component to the successful growth of Munroe Regional that goes beyond the building expansions renovations and additional services its Munroe Regionals people In a collaborative process that involves administrators board members trustees physicians associates volunteers government officials hospital consultants architects and community members these individuals combine talents professionalism and enthusiasm to ensure Munroe Regionals delivery of firstclass healthcare

Not only is Munroe Regional one of the largest employers in the area it also has one of the highest retention rates of any employer in Marion County Currently Munroe Regional has 41 associates with 30 years of service 51 associates with 2530 years of service 106 associates with 2025 years of service 177 associates with 1520 years of service 318 associates with 10 15 years of service and 646 associates with 510 years of service

If you were to bump into one of these associates theyd more than likely share a fond memory or two Some might recall when there were less than 200 associates and a mere handful of doctors You might hear about quotthe fathers labor roomquot a small anteroom off the delivery room where an intercommunications hookup between the rooms allowed the father to hear his babys first cry note the time of birth and get the news as to whether it was a boy or girl Or you might be told about the days when the hospital maintained its own large vegetable garden in order to produce food for the patients And in years to come there will be those who look back on a recent expansion and have stories to tell

But the community can rest assured that Munroe Regional will continue to take the necessary steps to insure that the hospital meets not only present but future healthcare needs of the community as quotMr Benquot TT Munroe and others would have expected

Mission amp Values
In 2007 Munroe Regional Medical Centers board of directors adopted a new mission and vision statement as well as a new set of core values for Munroe Regional This was the result of feedback received from Munroe Regional associates volunteers and physicians when asked to describe what they felt was expected of Munroe Regional Medical Center in providing care to our community

The Munroe Way is our mission vision core values and behaviors It is our compass for directing every action we undertake at Munroe

Simply put The Munroe Way helps us to better understand who we are and what is expected of us The Munroe Way is how we operate in our organization It is how we must conduct ourselves and how we are expected to treat our customers patients and one another The Munroe Way is our Code of Ethics and our Code of Conduct It also outlines our continued focus on our quotquality equationquot which helps us focus on providing high value at the lowest reasonable cost qualitycost value

The Munroe Way is our tool to ensure we live our mission every day and provide our community with exceptional customer service

History

Munroe Regionals community partnership extends more than 100 years in Ocala s history In 1898 Ben Rheinauer the owner of a drygood store in Ocala saw an accident in front of his store and voiced the need Ocala must have a hospital to care for the sick and injured This sparked the community leaders imagination and ingenuity and in 1898 the Marion General Hospital opened its temporary quarters on the third floor of a downtown building At the time Munroe was the fourth hospital in Florida Along with other community leaders TT Munroe the president of a newly formed local bank became a major supporter of the new hospital and guided its growth for the next 23 years

In honor of Mr Munroe the hospital was later given his name which it has continued to carry in recognition of his early commitment to community healthcare Through the leadership of Mr Munroe and others and the Ocala Evening Daily Star the first building of the current hospital complex was completed in 1928

As our community has grown in population Munroe has grown with it to meet the increasing healthcare needs Today Munroe has grown to a 421 acutecare bed complex with multiple outpatient services located throughout the county

As we step into the future Munroe will continue to provide quality innovative patient care