The Venice City Council approved a zoning amendment that gave a green light to Sarasota Memorial’s development plans for its new Venice hospital. The 65-acre site at the intersection of Laurel and Pinebrook roads near I-75 had been zoned for a shopping center. With this vote, the City Council unanimously approved SMH’s request to allow a hospital and related health care facilities to be built on the site. The health system broke ground on the hospital campus in April and obtained permits to begin land clearing and deep foundation work. On May 7, the Planning Board approved SMH’s site and development plans pending approval of the zoning amendment.

Construction is expected to take two and a half years with a total project cost of $437 million. The initial development covers 48 acres on the eastern side of the parcel and includes: a five-story, 365,000-square-foot hospital, with 110 private rooms and 28-bed emergency center; a two-story, 60,000-square-foot medical office building; related support structures and service area; and an adjacent parking garage and surface parking lots. The hospital will offer a full array of medical and surgical care, including: Cardiology Unit/Catheterization Lab; Critical Care/Intensive Care Unit; Emergency Care; Labor & Delivery/Post-Partum Unit; Laboratory/Diagnostic Testing; Oncology; Orthopedics;; Imaging/Radiology; Urology and more.

The campus is expected to generate hundreds of jobs during construction, and more than 500 employees will work at the facility when it opens. For architectural renderings, building animation and more information, visit the website below.

SMH-Venice Updates