With the close, the university's 55-year-old Miller School of Medicine has gained a full-scale hospital for the first time. HCA and the university signed a letter of intent to pursue the sale on March 26. On Oct. 26, the executive committee of the university's board of trustees voted to give UM senior officers the authority to complete the deal, and administrators proceeded with regulatory approvals.

The hospital is located at 1400 NW 12th Ave., just across from the medical school's NW 12th Avenue campus. A Miller School spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com the medical school took immediate ownership of the 560-bed facility, renamed it University of Miami Hospital and installed the new identity on the building on Dec. 3.

Most of the physicians on Cedars' medical staff have already completed the credentialing process required to begin practicing at the new University of Miami Hospital. The nurses, technicians and other support personnel will become university employees.