(Largo, FL – September 2010) – Largo Medical Center Hospital has earned the designation as a Statutory Teaching Hospital by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).  This prestigious designation is part of the hospital’s commitment to  NOVA Southeastern University to expand graduate medical education programs which meet the growing need for physicians in our community, Florida and the nation, in both primary  and specialty patient care.

The Statutory Teaching Hospital designation is granted to hospitals with at least 100 or more full-time equivalent resident physicians, in seven (or more) different graduate medical education (GME) programs.  The programs must be accredited by the Council on Postdoctoral Training of the American Osteopathic Association (COPT) or the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Largo Medical Center began training residents in 2008 with 9 programs, which has now expanded to twelve programs: Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, and Traditional Internship residency programs and Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Pulmonary Critical Care and Rheumatology fellowship programs. Richard H. Satcher, CEO of Largo Medical Center said, “This designation is yet another milestone for Largo Medical Center as our hospital strives to prepare high quality physicians to meet the future healthcare  needs of our community, the state of Florida and the nation.”

Residency programs are mainly funded by a combination of federal Medicare and state-federal and Medicaid funds.  Because Florida ranks in the lower quartile for the number of residents in training per capita, most teaching hospitals supplement GME funding. According to the Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME), it is anticipated that there will be a national shortage of 85,000 physicians in 2020.

“As we grow our GME programs, Largo Medical Center remains committed to primary care physician training” said Satcher.  “This is important to us all. We will continue to balance primary care training with specialty training while we respectfully uphold our commitment as a designated statutory teaching hospital.”

Largo Medical Center received formal notice of its statutory teaching hospital designation in August. There are 19 statutory teaching hospitals statewide. If you would like to conduct an interview regarding this NEW designation, please contact Tammy Robiconti, Marketing Director, at 727-588-5724.

Largo Medical Center is a 422 bed hospital serving the community from two campuses. Largo Medical Center and Largo Medical Center – Indian Rocks provides breast healthcare at the Florida Breast Institute, knee care at the Florida Knee and Orthopedic Pavilion, spine, neck and neurological care at the Florida Spine & Neuro Center, heart care at the Tampa Bay Heart Institute, behavioral healthcare, inpatient rehabilitation, wound care, sleep disorders care, imaging & diagnostic services and emergency care. Largo Medical Center’s Graduate Medical Education program is the West Coast Academic Center for NOVA Southeastern University and is the 3rd largest program of its kind in the Southern United States.