UF Health Shands Hospital (Gainesville, Fla.). After William A. Shands was elected as a Florida state senator in 1940, he worked tirelessly to ensure the Gainesville community had a teaching hospital. Two years after the University of Florida College of Medicine was established in 1956, the UF Teaching Hospital opened its doors. In 1965, it was renamed W.A. Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics in his honor.
Today, the 939-bed UF Health Shands is fulfilling Mr. Shands' vision by becoming one of the top healthcare organizations in the state. U.S. News & World Report ranked the hospital in the top 50 nationally for cardiology/heart surgery, nephrology, neurology/neurosurgery, pulmonology and urology. The Magnet-designated hospital opened the UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital in November, a 192-room, highly acclaimed facility that treats some of the most complex oncology patients in the state.
One of the most renowned developments within the UF system was the development of Gatorade at the UF Health Science Center, but UF Health Shands has several other major clinical and research breakthroughs. In 1966, physicians conducted Florida's first adult and pediatric kidney transplant, as well as the state's first radiosurgery in 1988. UF Health Shands, which has ties to about 900 UF College of Medicine and community physicians, also was the site for the country's first embryonic tissue transplant for spinal cord repair in 1997.
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