Munroe Regional Medical Center is a 421-bed community hospital in Ocala, Florida. It is accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO)and has received a number of awards, including ranking among the 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals for seven years by Modern Healthcare. It is located just south of downtown Ocala.
Munroe Regional Medical Center was named in honor of community leader T.T. Munroe, a major supporter of the hospital in its early years. The first building of the current hospital complex was completed in 1928. The hospital has undergone extensive expansion over the years.
Munroe Regional Medical Center is having trouble holding on to registered nurses and is looking to fix the problem. Dan O'Connor, Munroe vice president of human resources, told hospital officials during an executive committee meeting this week that Munroe's registered nurse turnover rate was 18.8 percent, up from about 15 percent in 2009 and higher than the national average, which ranges between 8.5 and 14 percent. Munroe's rate also is higher than the average for Florida at 12.3 percent, according to the Florida Hospital Association. The average nursing turnover rate for southeastern states was about 11 percent, according to Nursing Solutions Inc., a nursing recruiting company. Hospital president and CEO Steve Purves and other committee members asked O'Connor to further investigate the cause of the exodus among registered nurses from the 421-bed facility. The hospital has about 500 full-time registered nurses. Munroe Chief Financial Officer Rich Mutarelli warned that the cost of training new nurses to familiarize them with the hospital's new equipment and technology was expensive. He also asked about the average age of the hospital's nurses and how their retirement would affect the facility's nursing pool. In Florida, the average registered nurse is more than two years older than the national median age of 48.6 years, and only one quarter of registered nurses are younger than 40, according to the Florida Hospital Association. Hospitals that took the FHA survey reported it took between 30 days and 60 days to fill vacancies. Munroe's nursing vacancy rate is 6 percent, typical of Florida hospitals vacancy rate of 6.5 percent in 2011, according to the association. Ocala Regional Medical Center and West Marion Community Hospital fared better in retaining registered nurses.