AdventHealth Ocala

AdventHealth Ocala is an acute care non-profit hospital in Ocala, Florida, United States. The healthcare facility is owned by the Marion County Hospital District, and has been leased to AdventHealth since 2018. The hospital district is largely funded by the US$213 million paid to the district by Community Health Systems in 2014 for the right to operate this facility. CHS sold their lease to Adventist Health System in 2018.

History
The hospital was founded in 1898 as Marion General Hospital. The impetus for building a local hospital was a man being run over by a horse and wagon. The initial location was a three-story building owned by the publisher of the local newspaper, the Star–Banner, which was leased to the new hospital until 1901.

The hospital operated in makeshift housing until 1915 when additional land was purchased for the hospital to expand. A three-story hospital building was constructed and was able to treat up to 50 patients in an emergency. In 1927, local residents approved a bond to build an expanded four-story building that could handle 73 patients. It was built on the same site and is still in use today as the northernmost building of the hospital. In 1928, the hospital was renamed to Munroe Memorial Hospital in honor of community leader T.T. Munroe, a local banker, who gathered community support and led the push to expand the hospital. The hospital has undergone extensive expansion over the years.

By the early 1960s, the hospital had grown to 130 beds. In 1980, the hospital was again renamed to Munroe Regional Medical Center. The hospital expanded to 323 beds in 1994 and 421 beds in 2003.

In 2012, hospital supporters proposed a tax for the hospital. The voters in November rejected the tax proposal.

On April 18, 2018, Community Health Systems sold its forty-year lease of Munroe Regional Medical Center to Adventist Health System, after leasing it for only four years. On August 1, 2018, Adventist Health System acquired Munroe Regional Medical Center and its TimberRidge ER. Florida Hospital a subsidiary of Adventist Health System began to operate the hospital and it was renamed to Florida Hospital Ocala. On January 2, 2019, the hospital was renamed to AdventHealth Ocala, when Adventist Health System rebranded to AdventHealth.

On January 1, 2021, the United States government required all hospitals to have their chargemaster on its website. In early February 2023, almost all of the AdventHealth hospitals had their chargemaster on their website, including AdventHealth Ocala.

In February 2022, AdventHealth Ocala received a donation of $1.7 million to create a maternal fetal medicine program, the program will start in the fall of 2022.

Active shooter drill lawsuit
In July and August 2022, AdventHealth Ocala was sued by five nurses who alleged false imprisonment and emotional distress during an active shooter drill in November 2021. The lawsuits allege that during a Disaster Preparedness and Mass Casualty training session an AdventHealth Ocala employee posed as a gunman at the direction of hospital management, simulated gunfire, told the nurses to lay on the ground and demanded drugs.

The lawsuits further allege that the nurses repeatedly asked if the events were a drill, and were told they were not by the drill's instructors. At least one nurse called 911 during the drill, believing it to be an authentic shooting. The Marion County Sheriff's Office confirmed that they dispatched officers to what the believed to be an active shooting, before canceling the call once they learned it was a drill.

The lawsuits allege that it was 10 minutes before the nurses learned they were experiencing a drill. Two of the nurses claim that they were being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the events they experienced during the drill. As of April 2023, the cases were ongoing.

Awards

 * America's 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery Award - AdventHealth Ocala won from Healthgrades for three consecutive years, for its excellence in Neurosurgery.
 * Labor and Delivery Excellence Award  - AdventHealth Ocala won the Labor and Delivery Award from Healthgrades, for its excellence in Childbirth.

Recognitions
In spring 2021, AdventHealth Ocala was given a Grade B by the Leapfrog Group.