Santa Rosa Medical Center

A group of Santa Rosa County citizens formed a County Hospital Board in 1951 which filed a Certificate of Organization for what would eventually become the Santa Rosa Medical Center.[3] The initial hospital, known as Santa Rosa Hospital, was chartered as a non-profit hospital , to be operated and managed by the county.[3] Construction y began in mid-1951 and on December 2, 1952 the first patients were admitted.[3] The hospital was located on Stewart Street in Milton.[3] It was expanded in 1963 and again in 1966.[3] According to the hospital's website, local growth and population needs were exceeding the capabilities of the 100-bed facility by 1970.[3] The Santa Rosa Hospital Board of Directors and the Santa Rosa County Commissioners began drafting proposals for a new hospital on a new site.[3]

The proposed 4-floor facility included over 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²) of diagnostic and treatment space.[3] Funding was acquired and construction began at the hospital's current Berryhill Road location in Milton, Florida. The new $4.5 million, 153-bed county-owned facility opened in December 1972 with approximately 300 employees.[3] In 1985, the county leased the management of the hospital to the for-profit corporation, Hospital Corporation of America, Inc. and the name was changed to the Santa Rosa Medical Center.[3] Since then, the several firms have leased and managed the facility. Most recently, Health Management Associates, Inc. acquired the facility from Clarent Hospital Corporation on January 1, 2002.[3]

Since taking over in 2002, HMA has undertaken capital improvement projects in technology, renovations, and construction.[3] A September 12, 2009 Pensacola News Journal article stated that Chief Executive Officer Phillip Wright was seeking to upgrade the building and recruit new physicians, especially specialists such as cardiologists and pulmonologists.[4]