HCA Healthcare rebrands all of its Florida hospitals, including Blake in Bradenton
It’s a hospital that many locals refer to simply as “Blake.”
But for the record, Blake Medical Center now has a new name: HCA Florida Blake Hospital.
Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, which bought Blake in 1980, rebranded all of its Florida hospitals on Thursday.
“For the first time in Florida’s history, more than 450 HCA Florida Healthcare affiliated sites of care across the state will unite under a shared brand on March 3. This transformation will create a leading collaborative healthcare network in the state, united through a shared dedication to improve more lives in more ways,” the company said in a press release.
It’s not the first name change for the hospital. HCA Florida Blake Hospital, 2020 59th St. W., opened in 1973 as L. W. Blake Memorial Hospital.
No changes to facility hours of operation or phone numbers are planned with the rebranding.
“Our Florida colleagues and physicians have always been united in their commitment to serving our patients and caring like family. Over the past two years, we’ve come together in ways that better serve our communities and our colleagues, proving that our connectedness is our strength,” Chuck Hall, national group president at HCA Healthcare, said in the press release.
“This transition reflects our mission and our commitment to all we serve as we continue to work together to deliver high-quality care for patients across the Sunshine State,” Hall said in the release.
In 2021, Blake broke ground on a hospital expansion to add four new operating rooms, 11 post-anesthesia bays, expand and upgrade surgical support space, and expand the intensive care unit to 43 beds, an increase of six.
Blake has been aggressively expanding and upgrading its facilities in recent years to stay ahead of population growth in the Bradenton-Sarasota area, which is expected to increase by 50% in the next 25 years.
Combined, Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties could see another half million people by the year 2045, according to a study by the University of Florida.
Blake, one of 35 trauma centers in Florida, serves Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties.
