The Sarasota County Public Hospital Board approved funding Tuesday for a $450 million, 100-bed acute care hospital on 32 acres it owns on Sumter Boulevard near Interstate 75, aiming to start construction later this year, as part of its centennial celebration.
While recognizing the attendance of North Port Development Services Director Alaina Ray at the meeting, Hospital Board Member Brad Baker quipped, “It’s not every day that somebody drops a check for $450 million in your office; I think it’s important that you came to receive it.”
The 8-0 vote of approval – with board member Bridgette Fiorucci absent because of scheduling conflict – followed a unanimous recommendation made earlier Tuesday by the hospital board’s Mission and Planning Committee.
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System President & CEO David Verinder said, “Building a hospital in North Port has been part of our strategic plan and goals for many years, and I could not be more excited to break ground in 2025 during our centennial year,” in a prepared statement released shortly after the vote.
“It has taken time to build the medical infrastructure necessary to support the city’s first hospital, but we feel confident moving forward that we have the commitment and resources to ensure its success,” he added.
SMH has been working with city staff and other regulatory agencies on parallel tracks to obtain initial approvals for both this 32-acre campus and a 28-acre tract the hospital owns at the intersection of West Villages Parkway and Tamiami Trail in Wellen Park.
SMH has long targeted a free-standing emergency room at the Wellen Park site, with an eye toward developing a second hospital there, too.
This summer at its strategic planning session, the hospital board will look at its plan for the Wellen Park expansion, as well as the facility it opened in 2009 that houses both physicians offices and a free-standing emergency room.
Meanwhile, Hospital Corporation of America Florida Englewood Hospital is anticipating opening an 11,300-square-foot freestanding emergency department on a 30-acre campus in Wellen Park as soon as March.
That HCA campus may someday expand into an acute care hospital as well.
What will the new SMH hospital look like?
Renderings are not yet available but the initial structures will be a hurricane-hardened, 305,000-square-foot hospital, 60,000-square-foot medical office building and back-up energy center.
The first floor of the hospital will include emergency, diagnostic, administrative and support services; with surgical and procedure areas on the second floor.
The 100 private patient rooms will be on the third through fifth floors, while the sixth floor will house the hospital’s mechanical infrastructure.
That 100-bed hospital could eventually be expanded to 208 beds. SMH has already received approval from the city to build a 150-foot-tall facility at both the Sumter and Wellen Park campuses, since the current plan is for the designs to be identical.
To staff the hospital, SMH would have to hire an additional 74 physicians.
How is North Port’s medical landscape changing?
When the new SMH-North Port opens in the fall of 2028, it will not be the first hospital in North Port.
That distinction goes to the 144-bed Acadia Healthcare North Port Behavioral Health. City officials helped cut the ribbon on that private behavioral health hospital on Jan. 23.
The facility is estimated to employ 92 people with an average salary of approximately $67,000.
North Port Behavioral Health will treat patients with depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders.
The hospital is also collaborating with the city of North Port to provide 24/7 crisis counseling, PTSD training and resources for first responders.
Exalt Health, a Garland, Texas-based healthcare provider, plans to build a 40-bed rehabilitation hospital in Wellen Park and Bay Pine VA Healthcare System plans to replace its current VA Clinic in Port Charlotte with a new one in North Port.
Still, as North Port City Manager Jerome Fletcher noted in a prepared statement, the decision to build its first hospital in the city at Sumter Boulevard is “a landmark step for North Port.”
“With today’s decision, the quality health care so many North Port residents have desired for years is finally on its way to our community, along with new career opportunities for our workforce,” he added. “The city is committed to working with SMH through the development process to bring this project to life.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune
