Mayo Clinic Celebrates 25 Years in Florida

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville is celebrating 25 years of providing world-class medical care. Events are planned throughout October. Since the clinic opened in 1986, more than half a million patients from all 50 states and 143 countries have come to Mayo Clinic in Florida for Mayo's unique patient-centered approach to medical care.

"The past 25 years have been filled with tremendous medical breakthroughs for our patients," says William Rupp, M.D., chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic in Florida. "Our model of care combines research and education on the same campus where we provide patient care. All three disciplines work together to develop medical innovations that ultimately save and improve our patients' lives."

The expansion into northeast Florida marked the first time Mayo Clinic established a location outside of Rochester, Minn. The Davis family of Jacksonville played a significant role in Mayo Clinic's decision to open a satellite campus. Having received excellent medical care in Rochester, the family rallied support for fundraising and donated about 400 acres on San Pablo Road where the campus was constructed. Mayo Clinic opened a campus in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1987.

Since opening its doors in Jacksonville, Mayo has grown from one four-story building to three main patient care buildings, a hospital, two research buildings and a collection of freestanding centers, administrative buildings and support facilities. Mayo Clinic in Florida started with just 35 physicians and 145 support staff, and today has about 4,900 employees and an annual impact of $1.6 billion on the Florida economy.

During Mayo's 25 years in Jacksonville, there have been many significant milestones in patient care, education and research, including:

• Treating tremor with the first deep brain stimulation procedure in 1997.
• Discovering in 1998 the first genetic cause for frontotemporal dementia, the second most common dementia.
• Identifying a new risk-factor gene for Parkinson's disease in 1999.
• Performing more than 3,800 organ transplants, including liver, heart, lung, kidney and pancreas transplants, as well as multi-organ procedures, since opening its transplant center in 1998.
• Developing a pioneering lab model to study Alzheimer's disease in 2001.
• Being designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute in 2002.
• Opening Mayo Clinic hospital on the Jacksonville campus in 2008 to fully integrate inpatient and outpatient care. With 214 beds and 22 operating rooms, the hospital offers care in 20 medical and 15 surgical departments. The hospital also has a full-service Emergency Department open to the public.
• Offering the area's first robotic surgery for less-invasive partial knee replacement surgery in 2010.
• Opening a simulation center in 2011 where physicians in training can learn new skills in a risk-free environment.
• Opening the Gabriel House of Care in April 2011 to help transplant and cancer patients who must stay near the clinic for treatment. The 30-room, extended-stay facility is located on campus and provides affordable housing for patients and their families.
• Opening a new $3.8 million, 10,000-square-foot freestanding Sleep Center in July 2011. Mayo Clinic treats nearly 1,000 sleep disorder patients annually in Jacksonville.

Visit the campus timeline for a more detailed look at Mayo Clinic in Florida's 25-year history.

"We are proud of what Mayo has accomplished in 25 years, and we know that the next 25 years will advance the medical profession even further," Dr. Rupp says. "We are extremely thankful for our patients who trust us with their care; the physicians, nurses and support staff who put patients' needs first; and the benefactors whose philanthropy helps support Mayo Clinic's mission and vision."

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