Stay up to date on coronavirus coverage: Listen to WMFE on your radio, the WMFE mobile app or your smart speaker — say “Alexa, play NPR” or “WMFE” and you’ll be connected.

Monroe Regional Medical Center in Marion County will become part of the Adventist Health System late this summer. The Florida Hospital Network has acquired the 421-bed facility along with its emergency room and outpatient clinics.

“We have a strong focus not just in adding hospitals to our division, but also in expanding our ambulatory care and that includes things like our central care clinics and our Walgreens Express care clinics and our off-site emergency rooms that we have.”

The new property will become the second largest in the West Florida Division, which includes ten properties. Adventist says it is all part of a larger growth plan along in the area of I-75 and I-4.

If you’d like to listen to the full story, please click on the clip above.