Pictured: SMH-North Port is slated to be on a 32-acre site in the 4800 block of North Sumter Boulevard. Photo courtesy Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

In response to rapid growth in North Port and Sarasota County, Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) is expanding to a North Port hospital, projected to open in late 2028.

“As the population in North Port grew, we knew we needed to build a hospital there,” says Jeffrey Wesner, President of SMH-North Port.

The construction marks the third hospital SMH has built in its 100-year history, and it will also be the city’s first acute-care hospital. SMH released a virtual tour on June 22 of the hospital’s layout.

Wesner says the project will result in improved access to high-quality healthcare and a stronger local economy through job creation.

“We’re really excited about being the first hospital in North Port and bringing our five-star health care closer to the people in that market,” he says.

This $507 million hospital campus will be a nine-story building–the city’s first high-rise–and will feature an adjacent three-story medical office building. SMH-North Port will offer emergency care, in-patient and surgical services, full imaging, intensive care and specialty care, including cardiology, orthopedics, oncology, neurology, urology and pulmonology.

“The medical office building will bring much needed physician space to the community,” Wesner says. “There are not a lot of physician offices in North Port.”

While the hospital will open with 100 beds, the top three floors have shell space that allows expansion to 208 beds. Wesner adds that already constructing shell space is something no other SMH has implemented on an initial build. The campus design has the capacity to increase to more than 400 beds in the future. It will also house six surgical suites, two cardiac cath labs and two endoscopy labs.

Wesner says SMH-North Port will help recruit additional physicians to the community and will support greater regional growth.

“By having a hospital in North Port, it will help the community grow significantly,” he says.

941-917-9000, news@smh.com

Pictured: SMH-North Port is slated to be on a 32-acre site in the 4800 block of North Sumter Boulevard. Photo courtesy Sarasota Memorial Hospital.