About Us

Overview

The Office of News & Communications represents the Health Science Center at the University of Florida, its six professional colleges and a number of health-related research centers and institutes.

The office creates and distributes news releases and news publications about these institutions, provides support to the news media, assists and promotes internal communication and provides other communication services to clients within and beyond the Health Science Center. Our main phone number is 352-273-5810.

Patient-care activities of College of Medicine faculty often occur at facilities operated by Shands HealthCare, which has a separate marketing and public relations office that can be reached at 352-265-0373.

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News Releases

We distribute most of our news releases via e-mail. We keep a database of media contacts to whom we regularly send news releases. If you would like to be included in our database, please fill out this form. This service is provided only to professional members of the news media and freelance writers, so please indicate your occupation and with whom you are affiliated.

We normally do not attach photos to news releases; we place the photo(s) on a news Web page and provide a link to the page in the release. Our news photo Web page can be found here, along with other types of photos in our Photo Library.

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Source Contacts and News Escorts

We encourage reporters to contact our office when they are interested in locating a source for a story. In most cases, we can save you time by quickly identifying the best source and facilitating contact. For a comprehensive list of our  sources, consult our Expert Guide.

Due to heightened concerns about protecting patients’ privacy, broadcast reporters and photographers visiting the medical campus must have an escort from our office or Shands Marketing and Public Relations. Please call us if you plan to visit the campus: 352-273-5810.

We frequently arrange for patients to participate in interviews and to be photographed. However, patients must agree to the interview/photograph and must sign a formal consent provided by the medical center. Please help us protect our patients’ privacy by not interviewing them or photographing them until we obtain a written consent.

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Patient Condition Checks

Reporters who need to check on the condition of a patient should call Shands Marketing and Public Relations at 352-265-0373. A federal law enacted in April 2003 to protect the privacy of patients limits what can be released. Indeed, patients can request that no information be released.

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HSC Broadcast News Services

We have a professional broadcast journalists who supports TV and radio news media in their interactions with our faculty both on campus and from afar. We produce medical news stories, B-roll, and soundbites that are timely and informative which are provided to the news media free of charge via UF’s weekly satellite news feed, as well as digitally deliverable files through the Internet.

Satellite truck and uplink services can be provided through our campus’s TV satellite feed office in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Health Science Center footage and interview subjects can be delivered to the stadium and uplinked for on-demand, high-speed turnaround of important material. Network producers often take advantage of this service. Satellite uplink inquiries should be made through Quinten Eyman at UF News Bureau at 352-392-9092.

The UF Health Science Center News and Communications office also provides evergreen b-roll footage for affiliates in need of certain shots. Contact our office for details.

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Fact Sheets

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Campus News Offices

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