TGH Takes Over DeSoto County’s Only Hospital

Tampa General Hospital has taken ownership of DeSoto County’s only hospital, turning the 49-bed DeSoto Memorial Hospital in Arcadia into TGH DeSoto and giving the Tampa-based academic health system its eighth hospital.

The DeSoto County Hospital District selected TGH to take over the hospital, its operations and its workforce, including employed physicians and clinicians. The hospital will continue providing inpatient care, surgery, diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation and behavioral health, while TGH plans to bring additional specialists and new technology to the region.

Patients who need care beyond what the Arcadia hospital can provide will also be connected to TGH’s broader network, including its medical aircraft fleet for air ambulance and transfers between facilities.

“Tampa General is making a long-term commitment to provide exceptional care in rural communities across Florida,” said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General | Florida Health Sciences Center. “Working together with the DeSoto County Hospital District, we’re maintaining the local access to care that is so important to this community, while connecting this region to the innovations, technologies, research and best-in-class care we offer across Tampa General’s academic health system.”

Vince Sica, who ran DeSoto Memorial before TGH arrived, stays with the hospital as president of TGH DeSoto and a senior vice president at Tampa General, carrying the same hospital into a system that now stretches across nearly 170 care locations and employs more than 15,000 people and providers.

“This is the start of a new era in DeSoto County, one that comes with a new name for our hospital, a significant investment in the care we offer this region and a connection to one of the nation’s leading academic health systems,” Sica said. “But some things will never change: our commitment to care for the people of this community.”