Ocala, FL — HCA Florida Ocala Hospital is excited to announce the inaugural class of a new Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship who will be trained under the University of Central Florida/HCA Florida Healthcare Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium. This fellowship is the consortium’s first and only the second such program in Central Florida.
The three-year program will provide comprehensive, hands-on training to equip fellows with the knowledge and skills necessary to become leaders and experts in the treatment of acute and chronic respiratory conditions and critical care management. Fellows will engage in evidence-based, multidisciplinary training under the supervision of experienced faculty physicians who serve as mentors and role models in their field.
“We are thrilled to launch the Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital, an exciting new opportunity to train the next generation of physician leaders in this field of healthcare,” said Alan Keesee, chief executive officer of HCA Florida Ocala Hospital. “Rooted in HCA Healthcare’s mission to improve human life and led by our esteemed Graduate Medical Education faculty, this program will provide comprehensive, hands-on education, expert mentorship, and immersive clinical experiences that prepare fellows to deliver exceptional, patient-centered care.”
“Together with the University of Central Florida, we are investing in the future of healthcare by developing highly skilled specialists who will advance innovation, lead with compassion, and make a lasting impact on the communities we serve,” Keesee added.
The inaugural class for the Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship includes:
“Ocala is one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation and we need to meet the rising demands for lung health and ICU services,” said Raj Karunakara, MD, the Fellowship program director at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and an associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine who is a board-certified specialist in critical care medicine, pulmonary disease, sleep medicine, internal medicine, and neurocritical care. “Physicians involved in the program, having witnessed this growth firsthand. We are committed to training highly skilled, clinically competent pulmonary critical care physicians who are firmly grounded in ethical and moral principles to serve the community.”
“The program will focus on training fellows in the compassionate care of the sickest patients requiring intensive care level support, ventilators, shock, and those with other pulmonary diseases. Having these additional physicians available at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital will improve access and improve care, which, in turn, will save lives,” said Dr. Stephen Cico, the College of Medicine’s Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and the GME program’s designated institutional official.
Pulmonary and critical care physicians are increasingly essential as Florida’s population grows and ages, particularly in rapidly growing regions such as Marion County. This Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship is designed to strengthen the physician workforce pipeline and improve long-term access to advanced respiratory and critical care services in Central Florida.
The program welcomes its first class of three fellows in July and will train a total of nine fellows at full capacity over its three-year curriculum. Based primarily at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital, the fellows will also train at HCA Florida West Marion Hospital, Ocala Lung & Critical Care clinics, Select Specialty Hospital – The Villages, HCA Florida North Florida Hospital and several regional specialty practices, offering broad exposure across inpatient, outpatient and subspecialty pulmonary medicine settings.
The UCF-HCA Florida Healthcare GME Consortium is the fastest growing residency and fellowship training program in Florida, designed to address the state’s physician shortage. As of this month, the consortium is training more than 820 physicians in 49 accredited programs across Florida that have graduated almost 1,300 physicians. About 50% of those graduates stay in Florida to practice.
On July 1, HCA Florida Ocala Hospital will begin training 65 new residents across 10 specialties. In addition to the Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship, those specialties include Anesthesiology, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery, General Surgery, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, and Transitional Year Residency. Overall, HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and HCA Florida West Marion Hospital will have 181 residents and fellows for the 20226-27 academic year.