UF HEALTH JACKSONVILLE

A juvenile was killed and a man was injured in a shooting Thursday afternoon in the Hogan’s Creek neighborhood.

UF Health in Jacksonville is using a new tool to help doctors diagnose prostate cancer.

UF Health opens new urgent care facility in Jacksonville's Westside.

UF Health Jacksonville’s trauma unit will be in the spotlight this weekend.

A man was hospitalized in life-threatening condition after a shooting Tuesday morning in the Hogan’s Creek area near UF Health Jacksonville, police said.

The center opened in 1992 and its team of health care professionals have helped countless people avoid needless trips to the hospital.

A man was found shot Tuesday night on Cleveland Street, which is less than a mile from UF Health Jacksonville, but he died at the hospital, police said.

The U.S. on Wednesday authorized updated COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 5

A Jacksonville nurse was arrested and accused of stealing medication from an employer for a second time.

A woman died and a man was hospitalized in critical condition after a shooting Monday in the Brentwood area, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.

One year ago Sunday, UF Health Jacksonville lost a beloved leader when CEO Dr. Leon Haley died in a WaveRunner accident in South Florida.

There are currently more than 1,800 cases across the U.S., according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Governor Ron DeSantis was in Jacksonville Monday morning to help honor a legacy.

A student at commercial diving school CDA Technical Institute drowned Thursday in the Trout River while doing low visibility underwater welding training, authorities said.

The News4JAX I-TEAM has found patients can be charged up to $34,000 in fees for just being brought to a trauma center after a traumatic injury, and data shows the rate of trauma alerts, which trigger these fees, is growing faster than Florida population, elderly population, and violent crime rate.

The message from health leaders in Northeast Florida on Friday: COVID-19 cases continue to trend down.

Jacksonville police said Friday afternoon that they were investigating a shooting in the Lake Forest neighborhood.

After spending six months in the hospital with COVID-19, a 27-year-old man walked out of UF Health Jacksonville on Tuesday with his father by his side.

Many of you have reached out asking the I-TEAM for help after a ransomware attack knocked out the payroll systems used by several local businesses.

The News4JAX I-TEAM is hearing from more UF Health Jacksonville employees who are tired of waiting for IOUs after a ransomware attack.

It’s being called “flurona” — a combination of the flu and coronavirus all at once.

COVID-19 cases continue to hit all-time highs across the country ahead of New Year’s Eve.

UF Health Jacksonville had considered no longer ordering the Regeneron monoclonal antibody treatment but with the new numbers from the CDC, they backed off that decision and will continue to offer Regeneron treatment, Neilsen said.

Tuesday marks a year since the former CEO of UF Health Jacksonville, the late Dr. Leon Haley Jr., rolled up his sleeve and got the first COVID-19 vaccine in the city.

There are now more than 40 cases of the omicron variant in the U.S., including in Florida and Georgia.

News4JAX is looking at how Jacksonville is preparing for another potential coronavirus surge.

CMN Hospitals is hosting the 26th Annual Festival of Lights 5K on Sat. Dec. 4 in San Marco Square. This unique, holiday-themed race will raise vital funding for the pediatric programs at UF Health Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

The announcement made on Tuesday comes during Transgender Awareness Week.

There are a couple of melatonin diffusers on the market, but News4Jax brought to a doctor one that stood out because of its large presence on social media.

Many people are getting ready for the holiday season, and as travel is expected to pick up at the end of next week, roughly 20 states across the country are seeing an upward trend in the number of new COVID-19 cases.

A 36-year-old firefighter died after he collapsed while trying to rescue the driver of a U-Haul truck that struck a utility pole early Thursday morning.

The Florida Highway Patrol on Tuesday released videos and photos of a vehicle sought in connection with a crash that killed a Jacksonville father.

Any day now, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

A 70-year-old great-grandmother was arrested Monday after she refused to leave her daughter’s bedside at UF Health North after visitation hours ended, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday that a booster of its one-shot COVID-19 vaccine provides a stronger immune response months after people receive a first dose.

A community memorial service was hosted in Jacksonville Friday for Dr. Leon Haley Jr., the CEO UF Health Jacksonville who died in a WaveRunner accident in South Florida in July.

Hospitals across the country are dealing with a large number of COVID-19 patients, and the situation is especially difficult in New Orleans where Hurricane Ida left power outages.

In the past two weeks, the number of new patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Jacksonville has continued to drop. The decline is not dramatic, and Florida appears to continue to lead the nation in new cases.

"Emergency rooms were packed the past week. They were filled with people waiting for hours," one patient outside UF Health said Friday.

News4Jax visited the COVID-19 ward at UF Health Jacksonville on Friday and watched as nurses and care works went from patient to patient, doing what they could to help.

News4Jax visited the COVID-19 ward at UF Health Jacksonville on Friday and met Maria Omerkov, one of many patients in the Springfield facility.

Jacksonville hospitals are preparing for more COVID-19 cases, with some requesting ventilators.

As students begin to return to school, staff at local hospitals are expecting another surge in COVID-19 cases.

The late Doctor Leon Haley was honored by President Joe Biden, according to a statement by Haley’s son, Grant.

Three separate shootings in Jacksonville in just over six hours left four people injured, police said.

Coworkers and friends described Hailey as optimistic, upbeat and fun.

On Thursday, UF Health Jacksonville said there was more than one COVID-19 death each day last month and an average of three each day so far this month. Baptist Health says they've had 2½ deaths each day for the last six weeks.

The much more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to rage across Florida, sending another 526 people to the hospital and increasing the state’s record-setting total of hospitalizations to 12,041.

Gov. Ron DeSantis touted Florida’s COVID-19 response Tuesday, even as the state set a record for the number of people hospitalized with the illness for the third day in a row.

Linda R. Edwards will serve as dean of the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville for a one-year term, and the university will launch a national search to replace Dr. Leon L. Haley Jr., according to a UF Health news release.

A 29-year-old man is charged with aggravated assault after a stabbing Sunday in Glynn County, police said.

UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr. was honored Saturday with a funeral service in Pittsburgh, a week after a fatal WaveRunner accident in Palm Beach County.

Funeral arrangements have been made for UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr.

Grant D. Haley, the son of UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr., paid tribute to his father on Thursday, remembering him as a “hero.”

A doctor said he tried to save the life of the UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr. after a personal watercraft accident over the weekend in Palm Beach County.

As some hospitals are seeing pediatric patients with COVID-19, a Jacksonville infectious disease expert is calling the COVID-19 vaccination rates among children pathetic.

In a statement Tuesday, Baptist Health’s president and CEO says Northeast Florida has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, “but it’s never been as bad as it is now.”

The News4Jax I-TEAM is piecing together what happened in the moments before a tragic accident that killed UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr.

Two men said they attempted to save UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr. after a personal watercraft accident over the weekend in South Florida.

No end in sight: That’s what doctors and health officials say about the latest surge in COVID-19 cases in Jacksonville.

As hospitalizations due to COVID-19 continue to leave emergency rooms overwhelmed, a well-known Jacksonville immunologist on Monday called for Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency in Florida.

The water was calm on Saturday and conditions were safe at the time of a personal watercraft accident in Palm Beach County that left UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr. dead, according to the Coast Guard.

UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr., who died this weekend in a personal watercraft accident in South Florida, was more than just the man who ran the large hospital and medical group. News4Jax learned he was also a proud father of three children.

The rate of coronavirus cases and the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb in Northeast Florida.

UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr. died Saturday after he was thrown from a jet ski in the Palm Beach Inlet, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement Sunday.

As news began to spread of the unexpected death of UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr., messages poured in on social media from those who knew Haley and were shocked by the sudden loss.

"Dr. Haley was a strong, inspirational leader and beloved son, father, friend and colleague," UF Health Jacksonville said in a news release Saturday announcing his unexpected death.

During a telephone conference with city and state leaders Friday, leadership at UF Health Jacksonville reported a sobering statistic.

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is keeping tabs on a rare case of a disease known as monkeypox in the United States.

The latest wave of COVID-19 cases has led to a surge in hospitalizations, compounding what has already been a taxing year for health care workers.

According to leaders from Jacksonville’s hospitals, who joined Mayor Lenny Curry on a virtual news conference Wednesday, nearly all of the patients being admitted for coronavirus have not been fully vaccinated.

Aiming to dispel concerns about surging COVID-19 infections, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday defended the state’s efforts to combat the spread of the deadly disease.

Children are among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Jacksonville, according to doctors and nurses.

As new COVID-19 infections surge in Jacksonville, local health experts say an overwhelming majority of cases they’re seeing are the result of the Delta variant, now the dominant strain nationwide.

In just one day, COVID-19 cases at Jacksonville hospitals have seen a considerable increase, News4Jax learned Wednesday.

As more and more cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 crop up nationwide, health experts in Jacksonville say they’re seeing a growing number of infections linked to the variant.

A pedestrian was fatally struck by a vehicle early Sunday morning on Interstate 95 near UF Health Jacksonville, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

UF Health Jacksonville will begin giving children under the age of 2 years old Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, as part of the company’s clinical trials, according to Pediatric Epidemiologist Dr. Mobeen Rathore.

UF Health Jacksonville will offer Pfizer COVID-19 shots one day next week.

Two new ambulances were unveiled Thursday at UF Health Jacksonville.

The CEO of UF Health Jacksonville on Thursday stressed the importance of getting teens vaccinated.

Even as Jacksonville sees a drop in COVID-19 cases, medical experts are warning the community that they’re not out of the woods just yet.

A missing 65-year-old man has been located, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced Sunday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jax Spine and Pain Centers, in collaboration with UF Health Jacksonville, has begun work on a multispecialty surgery center and medical office building. The 19,000 square foot Centurion Surgery Center will be housed in a new three-story, 54,000 square foot medical facility with 12 outpatient operating suites and procedure rooms, according to a news release. The $25 million project, the news release states, will be the largest freestanding multispecialty surgery center in Jacksonville. It will offer patients neurosurgical, interventional pain management, orthopedic, gastrointestinal, oral, and maxillofacial, surgical, and gynecological care. The future Centurion Surgery Center is slated to open in spring 2022.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While grocery stores and state-run coronavirus vaccine clinics focus on inoculating people over 65 and healthcare workers against COVID-19, Gov. But Florida hospitals say they’re not getting enough vaccine doses from the state to make a significant dent in that vulnerable population. Since December, more than 200 hospitals throughout Florida have received shipments of the vaccine from the state. UF Health Jacksonville received two shipments within a week of each other in mid-December when vaccines began in the state of Florida. Because of that, the hospitals are not currently vaccinating any members of the public, let alone those with preexisting conditions.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More women in Duval County are coming down with COVID-19 than men, which goes against the national trend. That was one finding announced Thursday by the head of UF Health Jacksonville. Another important note UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley said even if you’ve gotten both doses of the vaccine, you can still carry the virus in your nose -- and that’s why it’s critical you still wear a mask. For 10 months, UF Health has been sharing with City Council and other elected officials about what the pandemic is doing in Jacksonville. Haley said so far, most people who have reactions or symptoms after vaccination are getting those after the second dose.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Right now, the priority in Florida is to vaccinate those age 65 and older and frontline health care workers against COVID-19. But Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew explained that another group is eligible to get vaccinated at certain hospitals. Right now, UF Health Jacksonville is one of the hospitals that will vaccinate its patients if they have certain preconditions. AdIn an email sent to a patient, the hospital said it now has COVID-19 vaccines available on a limited basis. “I’m encouraged that we will start to see slight increases of the amount of vaccines coming to Florida,” Mayhew said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and White House Coronavirus Task Force saying Jacksonville is in the red zone when it comes to the coronavirus, local hospitals say the number of COVID-19 patients here has dipped slightly. A recent report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force says Florida and Duval County are in the midst of a full COVID-19 resurgence, and in turn management at several Jacksonville hospitals acknowledged they have been dealing with the surge. But Chad Neilsen, infectious disease director for UF Health Jacksonville, said the numbers are leveling out in the last two days. “I do think largely the Mayor’s Office extending the mask mandate across Duval County helped,” Neilsen told News4Jax. Across Baptist Health’s five facilities throughout Northeast Florida, there are 177 COVID-19 patients, 36 of them in the ICU.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville hospital workers are receiving their second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as health department officials are still working to ramp up the volume of vaccinations given to the general public. As of Wednesday, more than 16,000 people in Duval County had been vaccinated, according to Florida Department of Health data. Bernadette Belgado, director of pharmacy at UF Health Jacksonville, said Wednesday that the hospital has vaccinated close to 50% of its workforce and planned to administer second doses of the vaccine to 700 of its workers. The state Department of Health in Duval County is leading the effort to vaccinate the general public in Jacksonville at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. A spokesperson for the Duval County agency confirmed two senior centers, Lane Wiley Senior Center and Mandarin Senior Center, have been approved to become vaccination clinics.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Days before the new year, Cheryl Bacon, 52, took her final breath at UF Health Jacksonville after losing her battle with COVID-19. “A week later, on Dec. 20, is when we were notified that she had COVID-19.”From the sound of her voice, Booth said, she could tell that her mother’s health was declining. “When I talked to my mom on a daily basis, her voice just kept getting weaker and kept getting weaker,” Booth said. She encourages those who have a loved one battling COVID-19 to take it day by day. “Never stop praying,” Booth said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine continues to roll out -- another 100 more employees at UF Health Jacksonville got the shots on Tuesday -- experts are closely monitoring recipients for any side effects. David Meysenburg, the division director of critical care at UF Health, was one of the first to receive the vaccine on Monday. Really, after any kind of medication, there’s a possibility you’re going to have some kind of reaction or symptoms,” Meysenburg said. Unlike some flu vaccines, the COVID-19 shot does not contain a live virus. “Instead, this vaccine uses MRNA technologies, so, in essence, we are basically fooling the body into activating the immune system against COVID-19,” said is Chad Neilsen, director of infection prevention at UF Health Jacksonville.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the arrival of 10,000 more doses of COVID-19 vaccine at UF Health Jacksonville on Tuesday, 100 front-line health care workers got their first shots. “It’s an honor that UF Health was one of the five hospitals in Florida to do this. “I trust the people here at UF Health Jacksonville, especially the physicians. Once health care and front-line workers are done, residents of long-term care facilities are next and then people aged 65 and older. They are the front-line health care workers in the emergency departments and the ICUs around the state,” Duane said.

Tampa General, UF Health Jacksonville and three other large hospitals will split about 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine between Monday and Tuesday. They will administer it to their staff members, distribute the vaccine to other nearby hospitals and front-line health care workers. DeSantis said the state will also receive 20,000 to the state to supplement the private vendors giving vaccines at LTC facilities. DeSantis then left the room without taking questions about why the state was not making White House Coronavirus Task Force reports for Florida public. The task force also urged leaders to begin warning about the risks of gathering during the December holiday season.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Eleven months after the earliest recorded case of coronavirus in the United States, the first 10,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived Monday morning at UF Health Jacksonville and the first 10 shots were quickly administered to emergency room and intensive care workers, including the medical center’s CEO. Pfizer’s COVID19 vaccine shipment from Michigan arrived around 9:15 a.m. Jacksonville’s vaccine supply was transported in freezer packs along with 3 million other vials set to be delivered across the country. News4Jax spoke with African Americans in Jacksonville about the new vaccine who had mixed feelings about the shot. The first shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine headed out from Michigan Sunday morning. Five of Florida’s largest health systems, including UF Health in Jacksonville, will receive 100,000 doses.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – UF Health Jacksonville received its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday and the first 10 shots will be administered before noon, a spokesperson for the hospital told News4Jax. Chad Neilsen, UF Health Jacksonville director of accreditation and infection prevention, said that once the hospital gets its first shipment, it will start giving vaccines to its high-risk and high-exposure health care workers as soon as possible, including doctors and nurses in the emergency department and those working in the COVID-19 unit. CEO Leon Haley, who is also an emergency physician, will get the first of 10 shots given on Monday. UF Health will also deliver the vaccine to other hospitals in the area. The first shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine headed out from Michigan Sunday morning.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – UF Health Jacksonville is getting ready to receive doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in the first shipment. News4Jax spoke with the Director of Infection Prevention at the hospital about the timeline to receive doses of the vaccine in Florida. The Director of Infection Prevention, Chad Neilsen, says doses of the vaccine could start arriving at the hospital in the next few days. Florida is expected to receive more than 179,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the first shipment, more than half of those will go to the hospitals, and the remaining will to go long-term care facilities. UF Health says some people are already showing up at the hospital to try and get the vaccine and they are reminding people not to do that.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – UF Health Jacksonville said it is expecting a recent surge in COVID-19 patients to get worse. “Currently, here at UF Health Jacksonville, we do have the capacity to continue to accept other patients,” said Neilsen, who also described more about the age of patients being treated for the virus. Across the city of Jacksonville and the Duval County area, we are seeing some of that young age, so an average age of new cases is still hovering around 40.”Neilsen said he expects UF Health Jacksonville to receive the first vaccine, if approved, as early as a week from Monday. Neilsen explained why he believes if the vaccine is granted approval, Americans should be confident it is safe. They are making sure everything passes muster and that this is a safe efficacious vaccine,” Neilsen said.

That would mean there will be enough vaccine for 20 million Americans by the end of December,” DeSantis said. pic.twitter.com/TcVBKrKlEH — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) November 19, 2020Five hospitals throughout the state are prepared to store the vaccine, including UF Health in Jacksonville. The state of Florida has identified 5 different hospital systems who have the ability to store the vaccine at those temperatures and administer that to the qualifying individuals,” DeSantis said. According to the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan, health care employees, essential workers, high-risk and older populations are expected to be the first who would receive the vaccine. “As an example, the ability to transport the vaccine, keep the vaccine cold, actually disseminate the vaccine, distribute the vaccine, give the vaccine as far as nurses and so on,” Goldhagen said.

Researchers are actively enrolling eligible patients at UF Health Jacksonville in COVID-19-related research studies. The efforts contribute to important work being conducted around the world to help researchers and clinicians better understand and more effectively target treatment options for COVID-19 patients. “UF Health emergency medicine is leading the way around COVID-19 research on our campus. An additional study involves enrollment in the Indiana University COVID-19 Registry to allow UF Health Jacksonville to share information on COVID-19 patients, containment and care escalation efforts. “Our team of emergency medicine physicians engaged in COVID-19 studies exemplifies the spirit of our division and our commitment to contributing to the greater good of the medical community,” said Hendry, associate chair of emergency medicine research at the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville.

Dr. Caro says while the number of hospitalizations is down compared to the end of summer, people should not let their guards down. “It’s hard to predict who’s going to do well and who’s not all we know some people are at higher risk for having problems,” he said. With flu season fast approaching Dr. Caro warns people not only have to take precautions against COVID-19 but also the flu. “The flu is definitely not more lethal than COVID,” Kantor said. Dr. Caro and Dr. Kantor agree that COVID is more deadly, but that’s not to downplay the flu.