Q&A with the CEO — Ed Jimenez
Curious to know what’s on the mind of our UF Health Shands CEO?
We caught up with CEO Ed Jimenez and asked him several questions for this edition of News+Notes. See how to submit your question at the bottom of the page!

What excites you most about our new heart and neuro hospitals, set to open in December 2017?
It’s going to be phenomenal to have hospitals where patients can have all of their outpatient and inpatient disease-specific needs met. You can see your cardiologist, get diagnostic imaging for cardiology, have a procedure or operation done and stay overnight in the same building. And it’s more than cardiology; the same is true for neurology, neurosurgery, vascular surgery, cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery. I’m also excited about what this means on a day-to-day basis for our staff. They’re going to be co-located with colleagues who are experts in the same types of diseases and conditions. That’s very important.
We received more good news from U.S. News’ annual rankings, this time with eight adult specialties being ranked in the Top 50. What does that say about us?
We did very well in both our pediatric and adult rankings — in fact, we’re the only hospital in Florida ranked in a combined 17 specialties. These rankings show that people outside our organization are saying “wow” and putting us in the same conversation with other health care greats like Massachusetts General Hospital, Johns Hopkins and Stanford Health Care. It’s a pretty outstanding feat.
Next month, our new freestanding E.R. opens on Southwest Archer Road, just west of I-75. Why is this so important for the community?
You can’t help but notice the growth of Alachua County, Gainesville and, specifically, the southwest side of town. The
UF Health Emergency Center at Kanapaha fits right in with our thought process to put our services in the right places where there’s a growing need. It’s the same approach we took when we expanded our services to Springhill on 39th Avenue and opened UF Health Family Medicine – Eastside on Main Street. We are aware and sensitive to the needs of our community and this emergency center will be a great resource to residents in southwest Gainesville and surrounding areas.
What are you personally looking forward to this fall?
My oldest daughter will be a high school junior so we’ll start looking at colleges; my younger daughter is going into eighth grade, so we’re looking into high schools; and my son is going into fifth grade, so we’ll start thinking about middle schools. Those life transitions are exciting and make me feel old all at the same time. And, the fall brings hope that our beloved Gators will have a great season!