The UF Health Emergency Center at Kanapaha will open to patients on Oct. 1. Photo by Mindy C. Miller

The UF Health Emergency Center at Kanapaha will open to patients on Oct. 1. The new 911-receiving, freestanding E.R. on Southwest Archer Road will provide critical care services for residents in southwest Gainesville.

The state-of-the-art 10,881-square-foot E.R. is a designated 911 ambulance-receiving facility. Located about 2.5 miles west of I-75, it features 14 exam spaces and two rooms dedicated to rapid triaging and patient examinations.

View photos from the ribbon-cutting ceremony

Like the UF Health Shands Emergency Center at Springhill, Kanapaha providers will be linked closely to the hospital-based critical care teams and can provide direct and immediate access to comprehensive services at UF Health Shands Hospital.

See answers to common questions about freestanding emergency rooms below:

What is a freestanding emergency room?

• A freestanding emergency room is a full-service, walk-in and 911-receiving emergency care medical facility that is community-based and not located in a hospital or on a hospital campus; and it is fully equipped and staffed to provide comprehensive emergency care for patients with acute illnesses or injuries.
• They are staffed by physicians and nursing staff who have specialized training or competency in emergency medicine and they offer the same state-of-the-art technology, resources and expertise as an emergency room at a hospital.
• With onsite labs and imaging services, freestanding emergency rooms usually offer shorter wait times and quicker turnaround times for care compared to traditional, on-site hospital emergency rooms. Patients can access care closer to home, and quickly receive immediate assessment, diagnosis, stabilization and treatment for emergency medical needs. Patients who require more complex care from a multidisciplinary team can be stabilized at the local freestanding emergency room then transported to the emergency room at a hospital.

How is a freestanding emergency room different from an urgent care center?

• Urgent care centers are not “911-receiving” – meaning they do not receive patients as a result of 911 emergency calls and EMS transportation – and they do not offer the same complexity of services as freestanding emergency rooms, such as labs and imaging services.

What conditions should be directed to the on-campus (southwest Archer Road) emergency room?

• Patients who have a potentially serious or life-threatening heart condition, heart attack, stroke or traumatic injury will be transported for further evaluation and treatment at the UF Health Shands E.R., located at the UF Health Shands Critical Care center on the hospital’s main campus, or at the UF Health Shands Pediatric E.R.