USF Health and Tampa General Hospital are moving forward together to improve health for Tampa Bay with the approval of a new affiliation agreement.
Tampa General Hospital and Florida Hospital’s Tampa Bay Network also announced Tuesday that they have agreed to jointly develop new clinical programs and services throughout the Tampa Bay region.
Read a memo from Dr. Harry van Loveren, interim dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, on Tuesday’s events here:
Dear Colleagues,
Today marks an important day for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, for Tampa General Hospital, and for the future of health care in Tampa Bay.
This morning, the Tampa General Hospital Board of Directors agreed to a new long-term affiliation agreement with the College of Medicine. TGH also announced a new affiliation agreement with Florida Hospital’s Tampa Bay Network.
Today is the day we reaffirm our commitment to Tampa General Hospital, our primary hospital partner and the heart of our teaching program. We are confident that this framework offers us both the flexibility and the strength to carry our partnership forward.
The new agreement is evergreen. It automatically renews each year, so that we never again have to walk “to the edge of the cliff” and face a deadline negotiation. We can now put some of the recent uncertainties behind us and focus on what both our institutions do best: provide incredible care for our patients and teaching and training opportunities for our residents and students.
With these agreements, Tampa General is creating a healthier future – not just for itself, but for all of Tampa Bay. Tampa General is Tampa Bay’s only adult safety net hospital. It is Tampa Bay’s only Level 1 Trauma Center. It is Tampa Bay’s only quaternary hospital. In short, Tampa Bay cannot live without Tampa General. For many of our patients, that is literally true.
Given the dizzying pace of healthcare change, and the recent spurt of hospital mergers and acquisitions, we all recognize that Tampa General needs to grow beyond Davis Islands. We are ready to expand with them. Where they go, we will go. Our mission – to train the best doctors and health professionals for tomorrow – is vital to Tampa General’s future. After all, half of Tampa General’s staff and half of its patients come from USF Health. Together, we can both become stronger.
In choosing Florida Hospital’s Tampa Bay Network as their new partner, Tampa General has chosen an excellent hospital system whose mission aligns with its own. We are fortunate to already count Florida Hospital as a partner, and appreciate both their commitment to nonprofit care and their recognition that academic medicine elevates health care.
We are already working with Florida Hospital Tampa Bay Network in key areas, notably including neurosurgery and cardiovascular care. We look forward to the continued growth and development of this valued partnership.
Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about how we can help support Tampa General, and join me in congratulating them.
Harry van Loveren, M.D.
