The story
Early history
On February 15, 1973, Southern Adventist Health and Hospital Systems, Inc. was founded at Florida Hospital Orlando. The organization unified nine hospitals across the Southern Union Conference, uniting facilities that had operated independently for decades. The system later adopted the name Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation. They did this after the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists applied for the trade name Adventist Health System on December 26, 1979.
Mardian J. Blair served as president and CEO of AHS from 1984 until his retirement on January 1, 2000. He was succeeded by Thomas L. Werner.
In 1993, Louis Smith Memorial Hospital in Lakeland, Georgia was sold to Lanier Health Services, Inc.
In 1996, the Centura Health joint venture was founded by Adventist Health System and Catholic Health Initiatives. On August 1, 2023, Centura Health was dissolved with Avista Adventist Hospital, Castle Rock Adventist Hospital, Littleton Adventist Hospital, Parker Adventist Hospital, Porter Adventist Hospital in Colorado being rebranded to AdventHealth.
In May 1999, AHS withdrew from negotiations to purchase three hospitals in the Tampa Bay area from Tenet Healthcare. The decision followed disagreement over valuation, with Tenet reportedly seeking between $200 million and $250 million.
2005-2019
In November 2005, Werner was succeeded by Donald L. Jernigan. During Jernigan's tenure, the organization relocated its headquarters from Winter Park, to a new administrative campus in Altamonte Springs. The first phase, a five-story office building, opened in 2011 and received a Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The second office building opened in 2013.
On December 20, 2005, HCA Healthcare agreed to purchase from Adventist Health System, Tennessee Christian Medical Center, a medical office building and a therapy center in Madison, Tennessee. As well as Tennessee Christian Medical Center Portland in Portland, Tennessee. On March 31, 2006, HCA Healthcare purchased the properties for $19.7 million.
On April 16, 2012, Adventist Health System joined the Partnership for Patients program from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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On October 31, 2014, Emory-Adventist Hospital in Smyrna, Georgia closed.
On February 1, 2015, Adventist Midwest Health and Alexian Brothers Health System founded AMITA Health a nine hospital joint venture, the third-largest in Illinois. On April 1, 2022, AMITA Health was dissolved with AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Bolingbrook, AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Hinsdale, AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center GlenOaks and AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center La Grange being rebranded to AdventHealth.
On May 1, Adventist Health System stopped leasing Jellico Community Hospital, in Jellico, Tennessee after 40 years.
On December 8, 2016, Terry Shaw became president and CEO.
On January 5, 2017, Wellmont Health System purchased Greeneville Takoma Regional Hospital in Greeneville, Tennessee from Adventist Health System for $13.5 million.
In 2018, a five-story office building and a seven-story parking garage were completed. On August 14, AHS announced that it would rebrand itself as AdventHealth. At the time it had forty-six hospital campuses and 80,000 employees.
On January 2, 2019, Florida Hospital, Gordon Hospital, Manchester Memorial Hospital, Metroplex Health System, Park Ridge Health and Shawnee Mission Health rebranded to AdventHealth. Its facilities in Colorado, Illinois, and Texas did not change, as they were managed via joint ventures.
On August 28, the hospital network launched a command center. The 12,000 square foot (1,100 m2) facility was built for $20 million on the Orlando campus. GE Healthcare helped build it. At the time it was their largest command center and the second-largest in Florida. Upon opening, Mission Control was staffed by 50 nurses, EMS personnel, flight dispatchers, transport techs, and other specialists. Its mission was better tracking of its patients in central Florida.
In November 2019, AdventHealth ended a partnership with University of Central Florida College of Medicine, after it had agreed to become a part owner of a teaching hospital with HCA Healthcare. The partnership with the medical school had started with Florida Hospital in October 2007.
2020-present
From 2020 to May 2024, AdventHealth hired 10,000 nurses to fill a predicted future nursing shortage in central Florida. A Nursing Advisory Panel provided input from nurses. The panel asked for more money and to continue nurses' education. AdventHealth invested $140 million to improve pay and education.
On April 1, 2020, the hospital network sold Central Texas Medical Center to Christus Health, which it renamed Christus Santa Rosa Hospital-San Marcos.
COVID-19
On March 5, 2020, AdventHealth began treating its first COVID-19 patient. Later that month AdventHealth received $110 million from the CARES Act to pay for employees during the pandemic.
In April, the Director of Pharmacy at AdventHealth Ocala developed a pharmacotherapy regime named ICAM to treat patients. In May, the hospital had a 96.4 percent success with it. ICAM is made up of antibiotics, blood thinners, steroids and vitamins.
On April 10, AdventHealth opened its first COVID-19 testing site at Daytona International Speedway.
On April 14, it opened a testing site at Daytona State College.
On April 15, it opened a testing site at The Mall at Millenia.
On April 21, it opened a testing site at Seminole Towne Center.
On April 22, it opened a testing site at Adventure Island.
On April 23, it opened a testing site at Osceola Heritage Park.
On April 25, it opened a testing site at Lake-Sumter State College.
On April 28, it opened a testing site at Posner Park.
On April 29, it opened a testing site at AdventHealth Center Ice.
On May 4, all AdventHealth hospitals in the state resumed elective surgeries; all employees and patients were required to get tested, visitors were limited, and everyone was required to wear a mask.
On May 16, AdventHealth Central Florida Division terminated its partnership with COVID-19 testing laboratory MicroGen DX after it failed to deliver on time and gave mishandled 60,000 tests, triggering a Food and Drug Administration investigation. On July 28, Governor Ron DeSantis visited AdventHealth Orlando. He praised it for allowing end-of-life visitation unlike many other hospitals. On December 16, AdventHealth Orlando began administering the Pfizer vaccine, vaccinating over 20,000 frontline workers in Orlando and Celebration, Florida in one day. They shared supplies with HCA Healthcare, Nemours Children's Health and Orlando Health. Also on the same day frontline workers were vaccinated at AdventHealth Tampa, five days later the frontline workers at AdventHealth Daytona Beach were vaccinated and six days later frontline workers at AdventHealth Ocala were vaccinated.
On December 23, AdventHealth opened a monoclonal antibody outpatient clinic at AdventHealth Orlando. Patients were treated with Casirivimab/imdevimab and Bamlanivimab.
On January 4, 2021, AdventHealth Central Florida Division moved to "yellow status" and two days later to "red status".
On January 15, AdventHealth opened a testing site inside of Orlando International Airport at Terminal A.
During the first week of March, AdventHealth honored those who lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic by having its medical facilities lights blue during the night.
By April, geneticists at AdventHealth with the help of California-based Helix, had tested 1,000 patients for COVID-19 variants. On July 22, the division returned to "yellow status". Elective surgeries were deferred, visitors were limited, and everyone was required to wear a mask. On July 26, the division moved to "red status". It began rescheduling non-emergency elective surgeries to increase capacity. On July 30, the division willingly moved to "black status" and stopped doing elective surgeries. On August 19, half of the division's 1,620 patients were under 40. On August 26, it was announced that the morgues at the division were at capacity. Ten of its hospitals rented coolers. AdventHealth blamed funeral homes for the backlog. AdventHealth then ordered 14 portable morgues to hold 168 cadavers. On August 31, the division announced it would return to "red status" on September 1, allowing outpatient surgeries to resume. On September 9, the division moved to "yellow status" and resumed 85-90% of its operations, including surgeries. On September 15, AdventHealth Central Florida Division announced it would move to "green status" on September 16, providing its full set of services.
In October 2021, researchers from AdventHealth Research Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee reported that Ondansetron lowered the mortality rate among COVID-19 patients on ventilators. On December 2, AdventHealth stopped requiring its employees to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
In January 2022, AdventHealth began restricting patients to one visitor a day at six Tampa Bay area hospitals, the following month the restrictions were lifted.
In March, AdventHealth Orlando opened a clinic to treat patients with Long COVID.
2022-
In May 2022, AdventHeath sold the vacant lot where Florida Hospital Oceanside once stood for $2.05 million to Ormond Holdings LLC/Blackstream Development LLC.
On June 12, 2023, the hospital network exited the nursing home market after selling 8 facilities in Florida, one in Texas, and one in Kansas.
In July, the hospital network created an AI Advisory Board to guide its adoption of AI technology.
On March 4, 2024, AdventHealth launched its AirStar 1 helicopter to transport patients from its smaller hospitals to larger facilities. Until then, West Florida relied on third parties.
AdventHealth became a founding member of Coalition for Health AI, which was launched on March 5;
and six days later it became a founding member of Trustworthy and Responsible AI Network, which was formed by Microsoft. It also became a founding member of Culinary Health Institute in Orlando.
On April 3, 2025, David Banks became president and CEO.
On March 26, 2026, AdventHealth announced that patient rooms across its hospitals would become camera-equipped smart rooms. AdventHealth Castle Rock and AdventHealth Manchester were the first hospitals to proceed. Some patients considered it an invasion of privacy, even though the cameras do not record. Patients can opt out of the camera technology. The hospital network plans to upgrade its hospitals by end of year. Papers and clipboards normally kept outside patient rooms are to be replaced with digital door signs.
From Wikipedia’s article on AdventHealth, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4