Progress
Healthcare
The healthcare industry has tried to meet the needs of Palm Beach County’s ever-growing population with new facilities and technology; here are some of the highlights:
1982
Delray Beach Community Hospital opened.
1986
Wellington Regional Medical Center and Palms West Hospital opened to serve the western communities; and West Boca Medical Center opened.
1995
The Department of Veterans Administration Medical Center opened west of Riviera Beach.
1998
Sixty-year-old Everglades Regional Medical Center in Pahokee closed.
2007
Boca Raton Community Hospital received a $75 million donation from the Schmidt Family Foundation, then the largest gift ever given to a community hospital and the third largest among all U.S. hospitals.
2008
The Cleveland Clinic moved into the new CityPlace Office Tower in West Palm Beach.
2009
Glades General Hospital, a 73-bed acute care facility built in1944 in Belle Glade, was replaced by Lakeside Medical Center in October 2009, to serve residents of the western communities along Lake Okeechobee. The Health Care District of Palm Beach County, owner of Glades General, built a $73 million, state-of-the-art hospital and relying on fundraising to cover about 25% of the cost.
Florida Tuberculosis Research and Education Center, an infectious disease research facility, is planned to replace A.G. Holley Tuberculosis Hospital in Lantana. Florida Atlantic University’s Jupiter campus is under consideration as a location.
2012
Florida Governor Rick Scott close A.G. Holley Tuberculosis Hospital, Though there had been declining cases of tuberculosis, the closure came during a high number of new cases of the disease.
When HealthGrades, Inc. rated non-federal hospitals for clinical excellence in 2008, five Palm Beach County facilities were named in the top five percent for at least the second year in a row: Delray Medical Center, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, Bethesda Memorial Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center, and Jupiter Medical Center. Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center and Delray Medical Center were also on HealthGrades’ list of America’s 50 best hospitals.