Awards and Recognition

ANCC Magnet Recognition – Nursing Excellence

Five-year awards: 2021, 2016, 2011

We value nursing talent, and so do our patients. In 2021, UF Health Jacksonville was again recognized for nursing excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Our organization has received this five-year designation three consecutive times, first in 2011 and again in 2016. The Magnet program is nationally recognized as the gold standard of nursing excellence. At the time of the award, only 6% of the nation's health care organizations had earned the credential.

This ANCC Magnet recognition means our patients are receiving the very best care, delivered by nurses who are supported to be the very best they can be. Nursing staff at UF Health Jacksonville underwent a rigorous and lengthy application and review process that demanded widespread participation from leadership and staff.

U.S. News & World Report – Best Hospitals

Report year: 2023-2024

In 2023, U.S. News & World Report recognized UF Health Jacksonville for high performance in seven procedures and conditions: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, pneumonia and stroke.

The Leapfrog Group – Hospital Safety Grade

Fall, 2023

UF Health Jacksonville’s downtown campus has received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit that assesses and reports on quality and safety in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. This distinction recognizes the hospital's achievements in prioritizing patient safety by protecting patients from preventable harms and errors. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on prevention of medical errors and harm to patients.

Human Rights Campaign Foundation LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leader

Awarded: 2022, 2020, 2019

Building a culture of inclusive excellence requires a long-term team commitment. As we continue our dedication to that effort, we are pleased to have been recognized for three years as an LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leader by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In its annual Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) report, the organization evaluates and scores health care facilities’ policies and practices related to equity and inclusion of their LGBTQ patients, visitors and employees. We are also proud that in all three years, our organization not only received the honor, but achieved a perfect score.

NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home

One-time designation

Putting patients at the forefront of care is a top priority at UF Health Jacksonville. Committing to this health care model earned University of Florida Jacksonville Physicians and UF Health Jacksonville recognition as Patient-Centered Medical Home providers by the National Committee for Quality Assurance in 2014. UFJP and UF Health Jacksonville were the first health organizations in Northeast Florida as well as the largest academic medical group in Florida to receive this distinction.

NCQA describes the Patient-Centered Medical Home as a model for care where providers and patients, family members and caregivers partner to achieve better health outcomes.

Unit Awards and Accreditations

Breast Center

Accreditation: 2023-2026

The National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a quality program administered by the American College of Surgeons, has granted accredited status to the UF Health Breast Center – Jacksonville. To achieve accreditation, a breast center demonstrates compliance with the NAPBC standards that address a center’s leadership, clinical services, research, community outreach, professional education, and quality improvement for patients. Breast centers seeking NAPBC accreditation undergo a site visit every three years.

Chest Pain Center of Excellence

Years awarded: 2016 through 2025

UF Health Jacksonville has again received accreditation as a Chest Pain Center of Excellence with a Primary PCI and Resuscitation from the American College of Cardiology. This is the highest designation for chest pain centers. When we were first accredited in 2016, we were the only hospital in Florida and one of just 24 in the U.S. to hold this designation. Today, the UF Health Jacksonville Chest Pain Center is a state-of-the-art facility staffed with experts who specialize in providing a high level of care to patients with heart attack and acute coronary syndrome symptoms.

Cardiovascular Center

Chest Pain-MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award
Awarded: 2022, 2021

The American College of Cardiology’s Chest Pain–MI Registry Achievement Award recognizes hospitals participating in the registry who have demonstrated sustained, top-level performance in quality of care and adherence to guideline recommendations. Through full participation in the registry, hospitals engage in a robust quality improvement process, using data to drive improvements and positively impact outcomes for heart attack patients.

Cancer Center

Commission on Cancer Accreditation
Awarded: Through 2024

UF Health Jacksonville received a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Cancer, a quality program of the American College of Surgeons. To earn the accreditation, UF Health Jacksonville’s cancer program met 34 quality care standards that focus on excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care. The Commission on Cancer singled out UF Health Jacksonville for taking a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer as a complex group of diseases that requires consultation among surgeons, medical, radiation and diagnostic oncologists, pathologists and other cancer specialists, a collaboration that leads to better outcomes for the patient.

Critical Care/Medical Intensive Care

Gold Beacon Award for Excellence
Award year: 2023

The Medical Intensive Care Unit at UF Health Jacksonville was recognized as a Gold Beacon Unit by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses in 2023. Only 20 hospital units in Florida received the gold designation for any specific care, and only two, including UF Health Jacksonville, received the Gold Award for MICU care. Earning the gold-level Beacon Award for excellence signifies an effective and systematic approach to policies, procedures and processes; fact-based evaluation strategies for continuous process improvement; and performance measures that meet or exceed relevant benchmarks.

The Medical Intensive Care Unit received the Silver Beacon Award for Excellence in 2022

Labor and Delivery

Money.com/The Leapfrog Group – Best Hospitals for Maternity Care
Award year: 2023

UF Health Jacksonville was named to the 2023 “Best Hospitals for Maternity Care” list published by partners Money.com and the Leapfrog Group. Based on Leapfrog’s survey of 2,200 participating hospitals across the country, only 259 hospitals met the criteria specific to delivering quality and safety in maternity care. Most notably, our two hospitals performed fewer caesarian section deliveries than 90% of the hospitals selected, a strong indicator of safe patient-first care. In addition, our maternity care received high grades for use of screenings, low incidence of episiotomy incisions for childbirth, and successful care of more than 50 high-risk deliveries per year.

Neuroscience Institute

Center for Comprehensive MS Care Certification
Three-year award: 2022-2025

The Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Program at the UF Health Neuroscience Institute was recertified by the National MS Society for offering a multi-disciplinary model of care to address the often-complex needs of many people with MS. They offer access to a full array of medical, psycho-social and rehabilitation services delivered in a coordinated fashion where providers share common goals for patient outcomes.

Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification
Two-year Award: 2023-2025

The Comprehensive Stroke Center was certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by DNV GL Healthcare, an organization dedicated to helping health care facilities worldwide achieve excellence by improving quality and outcomes. The DNV GL Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification is based on standards set forth by the Brain Attack Coalition and the American Stroke Association.

Pathology

CAP-Accredited Laboratory
Accreditation: 2012 to present

The UF Health Jacksonville Pathology Department has repeatedly received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists.

Pediatrics

Silver Beacon Award
Award year: 2022-2023

In 2022, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UF Health Jacksonville was recognized as a Silver Beacon Unit by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. The Beacon Award for Excellence honors individual hospital units that set the standard in evidence-based practices to improve patient and family outcomes, as well as staff and patient satisfaction.

Radiology

Diagnostic Imaging Center of Excellence
Award year: 2023

The imaging services at UF Health Jacksonville were the first in Northeast Florida recognized as a Diagnostic Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology, recognizing best-quality imaging practices and diagnostic care. This designation recognizes excellence at multiple levels, including the professional staff, the technology and the policies and procedures the organization follows, as well as superior patient care.

TraumaOne Trauma Center

Verified Trauma Center
Since 2018

UF Health TraumaOne Trauma Center has been serving adults and children for nearly 40 years. Our TraumaOne team is committed to providing the highest quality and level of care to residents of Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. As a testament to their excellence, the UF Health TraumaOne Trauma Center has been reverified since 2018 by the American College of Surgeons as an adult Level I trauma center also caring for pediatrics. It is a distinction given only to trauma centers that meet the most stringent criteria. In addition, for the first time, the ACS in 2022 recognized the lifesaving care we provide to children by also verifying TraumaOne as a Pediatric Level II trauma center.