Facility anticipated to open in fall 2028

On Jan. 28, the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board approved a $450-million plan to construct North Port’s first hospital, on North Sumter Boulevard, the Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) public information staff announced.
The six-story, 100-bed hospital “will be built on an undeveloped 32-acre parcel Sarasota Memorial Health Care System owns in the 4900 block of North Sumter Boulevard near I-75,” a news release notes. “Sarasota Memorial Hospital-North Port will be the health system’s third acute-care hospital,” the release adds. It will fulfill “a longstanding request from the City of North Port for a hospital of its own,” the release points out.
“With more than 95,000 residents, North Port is the largest city in Sarasota County, both in land mass and population,” the release says, and the city is “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 the Jan. 28 vote, as quoted in the news release. “It has taken time to build the medical infrastructure necessary to support the city’s first hospital,” Verinder continued, “but we feel confident moving forward that we have the commitment and resources to ensure its success,” he added.
“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 release explains. “The plan approved Tuesday reflects the first phase of development, which includes a hurricane-hardened, 305,000-square-foot hospital,” a 60,000-square-foot medical office building, and a back-up energy center, the release notes.

“Site preparation will begin immediately, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony later this year,” the release points out. “SMH estimates it will take approximately 30 months to complete construction.”
Anticipated to open in the fall of 2028, the 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 release continues.
“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 release says. The sixth floor, which has been reserved for mechanical space, “will provide the infrastructure that will allow SMH to add three more patient care floors and expand the hospital capacity to 208 beds in a future phase,” the release points out.
While the new hospital is under construction, the release continues, “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 records and clinical systems.”
Further, the release says, “SMH will be recruiting 70-plus physicians to support the range of services provided by SMH-North Port. SMH CEO Verinder noted in the release that “opening SMH-Venice in 2021 helped expand and bring SMH’s extensive physician base” farther south, which will help support a full-service hospital in North Port.
Additionally, the release says, 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 during the health system’s strategic planning and budget sessions.”
Meanwhile, leaders of the City of North Port “expressed support and excitement over SMH’s plans,” the release notes.
“This is a landmark step for North Port,” North Port City Manager Jerome Fletcher said in the release. “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,” Fletcher continued. “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.