By HFT Staff

The Sarasota County Public Hospital Board approved a $450 million plan to build North Port’s first hospital on North Sumter Boulevard in North Port. 

The six-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. 

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. 

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.