Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is a 1,041-bed

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

, research and

academic medical center An academic medical centre (AMC), variously also known as academic health science centre, academic health science system, or academic health science partnership, is an educational and healthcare institute formed by the grouping of a health profes ...

located on Davis Island in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, servicing

western Florida West Florida ( es, Florida Occidental) was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. As its name suggests, it was formed out of the western part of former ...

and the greater Tampa Bay region. TGH is one of the region's only university-level academic medical centers. Tampa General Hospital is the primary teaching affiliate of the Morsani College of Medicine of

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

. TGH also features the area's only ACS designated level I adult and pediatric trauma center and has a rooftop helipad to handle medevac patients. Attached to the medical center is the Tampa General Hospital Children's Medical Center that treats infants, children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 21. Tampa General Hospital has more than 8,000 team members and is one of five

burn center A burn center, burn unit, or burns unit is a hospital specializing in the treatment of burns. Burn centers are often used for the treatment and recovery of patients with more severe burns. Overview The severity of a burn, and therefore whether ...

s in Florida.

History

Local legend has it that the placement of what was originally named Tampa Municipal Hospital on Davis Islands was decided in a

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...

of the Palma Ceia Country Club golf course. David P. Davis, the developer of Davis Islands, was playing with Dr. J. Brown Farrior, James Swann, and Mayor Chancy of Tampa. The city had considered expanding the existing George Keller Memorial Hospital, located at 306 North Boulevard in what had been the grounds of the Tampa Bay Hotel, but had found such expansion unworkable. Instead, it approached Davis about building upon the Davis Islands land that he had deeded to the city. On the golf course, Davis asked Farrior, who was then chairman of the city's Committee for the Construction of Tampa Municipal Hospital, where he wanted the hospital sited, drawing a rough map of the Islands in the sand. Farrior indicated the tip of the island. This site is where the hospital construction began in March 1926, voters in the city having approved a

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

215,000

bond issue In finance, a bond is a type of security under which the issuer (debtor) owes the holder (creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to repay the principal (i.e. amount borrowed) of the bond at the maturity date as well as i ...

to fund construction in 1924. The hospital building was complete by the next year, the final construction cost having been US$300,000, with patients moving to there from the George Keller Memorial Hospital on 1927-11-15. James Swann became the

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of Tampa Municipal. The original hospital building, the inscription over whose main entrance archway reads "Tampa Municipal Hospital Memorial to Gordon Keller", was originally surrounded by parkland, and dominated the landscape of Davis Islands. It provided 250 hospital beds for patients. Whilst it still stands today, it has become almost wholly obscured from view by new buildings, and additions to the hospital, that surround it. In 1936, the Gordon Keller School expanded into a new building next to the original. In 1956, the hospital was renamed to Tampa General Hospital. In 1991, the original building was renamed after Clara Frye, an African American nurse who ran the Clara Frye Hospital for 20 years in the early 1900s, and after whom the Clara Frye Memorial Hospital that existed in West Tampa from 1938 to 1967 had been named. Frye admitted patients of all races, African American or otherwise, to her hospital. The Tampa Municipal Hospital did not admit African American patients until the 1950s.

About

TGH has specialty centers for Orthopedics, Trauma, Obesity, Neurology, Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery, Head and Neck Surgery, Burns, Cardiac Surgery, Transplantation, Vascular Surgery, Women's Health and OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Neonatal Intensive Care, In-vitro Fertilization, and others. Tampa General Hospital is home to one of the leading organ transplant centers in the country, having performed more than 9,000 adult solid organ transplants, including the state's first successful heart transplant in 1985. Tampa General Hospital is a level one

trauma center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major trauma, major traumatic injuries such as Falling (accident), falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma cent ...

, with a five-helicopter fleet, serving 23 counties.

Awards

The hospital ranked 118th nationally on the 2019 Newsweek: Best US Hospitals. As of 2021 Tampa General Hospital has placed nationally in 5 ranked pediatric specialties on U.S. News & World Report.

Emergency Preparedness

Rodney Kite-Powell, the curator of the Tampa Bay History Center, opines that neither the voters of 1924 nor the city's hospital construction committee gave much thought to the location of the hospital, with their primary motivation apparently being merely that the city already owned the land. The location of the hospital has proven to be inconvenient over the years, as Davis Islands were originally accessible from elsewhere via just one bridge (now two). The impact of

Hurricane Elena Hurricane Elena was a tropical cyclone that affected eastern and central portions of the United States Gulf Coast in late August and early September 1985. Threatening popular tourist destinations during Labor Day weekend, Elena repeatedly dev ...

caused the hospital's main generator plant to be moved out of its previous location in the basement to a higher location, reducing the risk of it being rendered in-operational by flooding, but the hospital site is still vulnerable to the Davis Islands bridges being washed out during a hurricane. The hospital itself is now largely proofed against storms, despite the continuing vulnerability of the island it sits upon. Recent building work in the 21st century, on the Bayshore Pavilion, has incorporated many of the hospital design recommendations of Washington Hospital Center's ER ''One'' project. All critical functions have been placed at or above the second level of the building, above the

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

level, placing

emergency room An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

parking on the first level.

References

External links