Media Guide

Media Representative

The media specialist can be contacted directly at 904-244-3268 to schedule access on campus, media interviews with a UF Health Jacksonville patient, physician or employee during business hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For weekend and evening inquiries, call the hospital's main number, 904-244-0411, and ask to speak to the media representative on call.

Patient Conditions

In order to obtain a condition on a UF Health Jacksonville patient, call the Media Line at 904-244-3268 and someone from the public relations department will be able to assist you. If you leave a voice mail message, please leave your name, media organization, phone number and first and last name of the patient.

Hospitals and health systems are responsible for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of their patients and patient information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) mandates regulations that govern privacy standards for healthcare information.

UF Health Jacksonville provides all patients upon admission an option regarding inclusion in our facility patient directory as required by federal law. Patients will be asked in the admission/registration process if they would like to opt out of the facility patient directory.

• If a patient chooses to opt out of the directory, no patient condition can be provided.
• If a patient chooses not to opt out of the directory, only a one-word condition will be provided when the condition of an individual is requested. The correct first and last name must be provided by the media agency in order to expedite condition information. Patients must give written permission to be interviewed, photographed or for issuing written statements about his/her condition.
• This HIPAA patient privacy law will delay your request for conditions on patients arriving in our trauma center and emergency department as a patient must first be approached about whether or not they wish to opt out of our facility patient directory upon admission as stated above.

A patient's condition should be given as good, fair, serious or critical.

• Good - Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious and comfortable. Indicators are excellent.
• Fair - Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious but may be uncomfortable. Indicators are favorable.
• Serious - Vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits. Patient is acutely ill. Indicators are questionable.
• Critical - Vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits. Patient may be unconscious. Indicators are unfavorable.
• Undetermined - Patients who are still being assessed or who have not yet been seen by a physician.

Release of Patient Information

Patients of public record are those patients whose cases include information reported by public authorities like the police, patients who have been placed under arrest, or any person brought to the hospital by the fire department or any law enforcement agency. Prisoners are not considered public record patients.

• The media must have the patient's correct first and last name before any information can be released. Only a one-word condition will be released. HIPAA regulations apply.
• Requests for information on circumstances or incidents resulting in a patient's hospitalization will not be provided by the hospital and will be referred to the appropriate public authority.

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