Boca Raton Community Hospital

Boca Raton Community Hospital is a 394-bed not-for-profit health care organization located in Boca Raton, Florida. The institution opened its doors July 17, 1967. The hospital has a staff of more than 750 primary and specialty physicians who provide preventative and acute hospital care. Nearly 2,100 employees and over 1,200 volunteers also enable the hospital to provide healthcare to its patients. 

History
In 1962, Gloria and Robert Drummond’s two young children, Debra and James Randall, were fatally poisoned. Had medical treatment been closer than 30 minutes away from Boca Raton, the children’s lives may have been saved. The Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League was formed that year with the mission of raising the funds needed to build a medical facility in Boca Raton. Outside consultants were called in who informed the League that Boca Raton would never warrant a hospital. Undaunted, the 18 founding League members persevered and used “Funds Instead of Flowers” as their rallying cry. By 1967, the League had raised $3.5 million and “The Miracle on Meadows Road” was opened with 104 beds on July 17 of that year.

Future
On June 28, 2006, Florida Atlantic University and Boca Raton Community Hospital approved an agreement between the two institutions to implement a land lease for the development and operation of a community-university affiliated teaching hospital. 

The hospital will serve as the primary teaching hospital for the regional campus of the UM Miller School of Medicine at FAU. Facility construction is expected to begin in 2008 with completion by 2011. Approximately 38 acres of Florida Atlantic land, located on the southeast corner of FAU’s Boca Raton campus, will host the infrastructure for the teaching hospital. The private room, 530-bed hospital will provide FAU facilities and resources to support undergraduate and graduate medical education programs customary to primary teaching hospitals within major academic medical centers. The facilities will include resident/student conference rooms, a conference center with teleconferencing capabilities including an auditorium and small group conference rooms, resident sleeping quarters with lockers, resident dining facilities, a resident lounge, a medical library with state-of-the-art IT systems and increased square footage in other areas of the hospital to accommodate students and residents.