By Carrie A. Mizell
After 38 years as the leading healthcare provider in Gilchrist County, Trenton Medical Center will undergo a name change on August 1 and soon after merge with a Palatka-based healthcare provider enabling it to provide additional services.
A federally qualified health center, Trenton Medical Center will soon be known as Palms Medical Group, explained DeWayne Yates, C.E.O.
According to Yates, Trenton Medical Center, Inc. is currently in the process of merging with another federally qualified health center, Family Medical and Dental Center, which has facilities in Palatka, Keystone Heights, Interlachen, Hawthorne, Welaka and Crescent City.
A not-for-profit health facility, Trenton Medical Center has been federally designated as a community health center, which means it does receive some grant funding to help provide care to all patients in the community.
Opened in 1971, Trenton Medical Center started out as a Trenton Rotary Club project, when local community leaders recognized a need within the community for medical treatment. What set Trenton Medical Center apart from other small town healthcare providers at the time was that it was the first physician’s assistant practice that did not have direct oversight from a physician, Yates explained.
Over the years Trenton Medical Center has expanded its services with the opening of Trenton Pediatrics, as well as an in-house pharmacy. Under the direction of an 11-member board of directors, Trenton Medical Center, Inc. has opened new healthcare facilities within the area, including Bell Family Healthcare, Branford Health & Wellness, TMC Pediatrics in Chiefland and TMC Healthcare in Williston.
According to Yates, the merger will not only allow Trenton Medical Center, Inc. to continue to grow and provide additional services, but the name change and subsequent merger will also show patients that each of the healthcare facilities has a uniform mission.
“The new hospital in Chiefland will change the healthcare dynamics in the area,” Yates said. “This merger will also allow us to expand into specialization, secondary care and hospitalization.”
Trenton Medical Center, Inc. boasts a history of practicing preventative medicine within the county. Yates said the focus has always been and will continue to be meeting the needs of patients without regard for a patient’s ability to pay.
“From pediatrics to geriatrics, we treat everyone,” Yates said.
According to Yates, Trenton Medical Center, Inc. served 13,500 patients in 2008 with a total 45,000 patient visits.
