SARASOTA, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2025) – The Sarasota County Public Hospital Board approved a $450 million plan today to build North Port’s first hospital on North Sumter Boulevard in North Port.
The 6-story, 100-bed hospital will be built on an undeveloped 32-acre parcel SMH owns in the 4900 block of North Sumter Boulevard near I-75. Sarasota Memorial Hospital-North Port will be the health system’s third acute-care hospital and fulfills a longstanding request from the City of North Port for a hospital of its own. With more than 95,000 residents, North Port is the largest city in Sarasota County, both in land mass and population, and one of the fastest growing in the nation.
“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,” Sarasota Memorial Health Care System President & CEO David Verinder said after Tuesday’s vote by the Hospital Board. “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.”
Hospital staff worked with North Port and other regulatory officials throughout 2024 to obtain the initial approvals needed to begin developing a medical campus on the Sumter site, as well as a new campus in nearby Wellen Park. The plan approved Tuesday reflects the first phase of development, which includes a hurricane-hardened, 305,000-square-foot hospital, 60,000-square-foot medical office building and back-up energy center.
Site preparation will begin immediately, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony later this year. SMH estimates it will take approximately 30 months to complete construction.
Slated to open in fall of 2028, the 100-bed hospital will offer a comprehensive range of emergency, medical, surgical and specialty care, a full complement of diagnostic and outpatient services, and primary and specialty physician practices in the adjacent medical office building.
The first floor of the hospital will include emergency, diagnostic, administrative and support services; the second floor will house surgical and procedural areas; and floors three to five will be dedicated patient care units with 100 private rooms for admitted patients. The sixth floor is reserved for mechanical space and will provide the infrastructure that will allow SMH to build three more patient care floors and expand the hospital capacity to 208 beds in a future phase.
While the new hospital is being built, SMH staff will be working behind the scenes on staffing and physician recruitment plans, as well as technology updates to seamlessly connect SMH-North Port to the health system’s electronic medical systems. SMH will be recruiting 70-plus physicians to support the range of services provided by SMH-North Port. Verinder noted that opening SMH-Venice in 2021 helped expand and bring SMH’s extensive physician base further south, which will help support a full-service hospital in North Port.
This summer, the Hospital Board will be reviewing and updating plans for its Wellen Park campus and existing freestanding ER and healthcare center on Toledo Blade Boulevard, as well as discussing other growth initiatives in the health system’s annual strategic planning and budget sessions.
Meanwhile, the City of North Port expressed support and excitement over SMH’s plans.
“This is a landmark step for North Port,” North Port City Manager Jerome Fletcher said. “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. The City is committed to working with SMH through the development process to bring this project to life.”
For future updates on the new hospital and health care facilities in North Port, visit: smh.com/NorthPortUpdates
About Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional medical center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of care, with 2,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and nearly 2 million patient visits a year across its network of care. Sarasota County’s largest employer, the community-owned health system includes two full-service hospitals in Sarasota and Venice, a freestanding ER in North Port, and a comprehensive network of outpatient centers, urgent care clinics and physician practices that stretch from Manatee County to North Port. Founded in 1925, SMH is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2025 and encouraging community members to visit smh.com/100 throughout the year for centennial events and updates.