• Gainesville gives Southeast 2nd Avenue a facelift
• Rapid Growth, Improvement
• Enhancing Adult Services
• About Shands AGH
• Related News Releases

Gainesville gives Southeast 2nd Avenue a facelift

The City of Gainesville will begin upgrading Southeast 2nd Avenue, which runs along the north side of Shands AGH, on Thursday, March 1. The project is part of the city's efforts to revitalize this neighborhood and bring businesses and residents back to the area.

Plans include resurfacing the road from Main Street to 13th Street and replacing the traffic lights at the 10th- and 12th-Street intersections with traffic circles. The 10th Street traffic circle will be on the northwest corner of the hospital.

Project managers estimate construction will take five months to complete. They have no plans to close any of Shands AGH’s parking areas, but the repaving process may temporarily limit access. Also, congestion will likely increase, so expect traffic delays.

Rapid Growth, Improvement

Shands HealthCare is investing millions of dollars to upgrade and improve Shands AGH for patients, employees, families and friends. The list of improvements currently underway is expansive: The hospital is in the process of replacing the hospital’s entire roof; installing a new fire sprinkler system on every floor by the end of 2008; refurbishing nine elevators in the West and East towers; relining underground sewer lines; updating the phone system at Shands AGH, Ayers Medical Plaza and the Medical Examiner’s Office; and refurbishing all of the public restrooms.

About Shands AGH

Shands AGH is a 367-bed regional hospital that serves residents from many counties, including Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Levy, Suwanee, Gilchrist and Union counties. Opening its doors in 1928, Shands AGH was Gainesville's first hospital and it has been a major provider for health services for more than 75 years. Today it provides a wide range of medical services with more than 250 medical staff members representing 32 specialties, including medical, surgical, obstetric, pediatric, cardiac and emergency care.

The plan to relocate some children’s services to Shands AGH is designed to supplement the existing programs offered at the hospital. Adult services will comprise 75 percent of Shands AGH’s business following the move. Shands AGH anticipates more than 13,000 total admissions a year at the hospital, of which approximately 4,000 will be pediatric patients.