Ascension Sacred Heart and The Florida State University College of Medicine expand partnership to include a new emergency medicine physician residency program

A new emergency medicine residency program at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in partnership with The Florida State University College of Medicine aims to increase the number of emergency room physicians in the area and improve emergency care services. ER residents are licensed doctors who receive supervised training while under the supervision of experienced, board-certified ER doctors.

"As a Level I trauma center, we will be preparing these physicians with vital emergency room experience at the highest level of care," said Sacred Heart Chief Medical Officer Dr. Peter Jennings. "Not only are we helping to build the workforce of tomorrow, adding board certified trainers and licensed doctors will strengthen our ER care team providing a better experience for our patients."

Florida faces physician shortages that have drawn attention and action from the Florida Legislature, including support for the expansion of medical residency programs. Sacred Heart Pensacola and The Florida State University College of Medicine recognize these programs and understand that where a physician trains is highly predictive of where they will practice. In fact, The Florida Hospital Association reports that 63.1% of doctors who train in Florida stay in the state.

"We're happy to surpass that average," said Bill Boyer, DHSc, associate dean of Graduate Medical Education and the Designated Institutional Official for all sponsored programs at the College of Medicine. "Seventy two percent of this year's graduates from our GME programs have elected to stay in state - with many at our partnering institutions."

Dr. Alma Littles, dean of the FSU College of Medicine, said that addressing Florida's physician shortage is paramount and integral to the college's mission.

"The Florida Legislature was certainly forward-thinking when it established the college 25 years ago," Dr. Littles said. "Our purpose was clear from the beginning - educate outstanding physicians who serve all the people of Florida, particularly the elderly and those who live in rural and underserved areas, and I am happy to say we are succeeding in this mission with more than 53% of our alumni living and working in this state."

The ER program will begin on July 1, 2026, with 15 residents taking part in the first year. The number of residents will increase by 15 annually, reaching a maximum of 45 residents at the start of the third year. Faculty for the program will be provided through Vituity, a 100% physician-owned partnership. The first two accredited Graduate Medical Education faculty for the program will be Andrea Austin M.D., MS-HPEd, FACEP, Emergency Medicine Program Director, and Lori Winston M.D., FACEP."Launching this residency in Pensacola is about more than training excellent emergency physicians - it's about serving our community," said Austin. "With a Level I trauma center and children's hospital on one campus, our residents will learn to deliver high-quality, compassionate care while growing into leaders who will shape the future of emergency medicine in Northwest Florida."

Sacred Heart has been supporting residency programs for nearly 60 years. This new ER residency is an expansion of the partnership between Sacred Heart and The Florida State University College of Medicine that began in July 2025. Current residency programs include internal medicine as well as OB-GYN at Sacred Heart Pensacola; pediatrics at Studer Family Children's Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart; and family medicine at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach. With the addition of the new ER residency, there will be a total of 135 residency spots across all specialties to train future physicians with plans to grow the number of residents and programs.