About Us

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center is a 257-bed hospital located in Fort Walton Beach in the panhandle of Northwest Florida. With a medical staff of over 200 physicians, it is the only acute care hospital in the Tri-County area that offers open heart surgery, an Advanced Primary Stroke Center accredited by the Joint Commission, Chest Pain Center and a Cancer Care Center that is affiliated with UAB and accredited by the Commission on Cancer.

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center also has a psychiatric treatment center, and advanced care for critically ill patients, including cardiovascular and neonatal intensive care units. In addition to these disease specific services, the medical center has emergency services, including a main ER, Pediatric ER and Express Care.

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center is also the parent company of the Destin Emergency Care Center and the Rehabilitation Institute, both located on Airport Road in Destin.

The year 2011 was marked by grand openings, major renovations and distinguished awards.

The new Rehabilitation Institute, featuring 20 all private rooms, opened in June at its Destin location. It was followed by the opening of Fort Walton Beach Medical Center’s Express Care in July, the new Lung Center in November and the December opening of the new Surgical Care Unit, a $1.5 million renovation featuring all private rooms.

In 2011, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center received several accolades, including being named to the Joint Commission’s Top Performer list on quality measures for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. Other awards included the Gold Award from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association and the Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida.

In addition to open-heart surgery, the Medical Center provides life-saving PCI (cardiac catheterization with coronary angioplasty and stents) and coronary artery bypass surgery. The Medical Center also has one of the area’s best “door to balloon” times—the critical time between a heart attack patient’s arrival in the ER and the inflation of a balloon in the coronary artery of the heart. According to medical standards, this time should not exceed 90 minutes. At Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, the average time is 53 minutes.

For expecting mothers, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center offers 24 private post partum suites where mothers and family members can enjoy their newborn in a personal, private setting. It also includes a Level II NICU for premature babies and full term newborns with special care needs.

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center also has a separate Pediatric Emergency Room dedicated to treating the emergency health care needs of infants, children and adolescents from birth to 15 years of age. It is also the only hospital in the region with pediatric hospitalists to care for children if their emergency visit requires admission to the Pediatric Unit.

For more information regarding Fort Walton Beach Medical Center’s services, call (850) 862-1111.