University of Florida officials spoke glowingly Feb. 21 of the opportunities Northeast Florida presents to the school at the groundbreaking of the UF Health Durbin Park medical facility.
The university is focusing on St. Johns and Duval counties because of their growth, said Mori Hosseini, chair of the UF board of trustees.
Hosseini said Jacksonville is the fifth-fastest growing destination in the nation.
Northeast Florida is the only location in the state with both UF Health and Mayo Clinic in Florida, which regularly place first and second in surveys ranking health providers in the state.
“You decide between Mayo and UF Health. You are picking between the best of the best,” Hosseini said.
The 42.5-acre UF Health Durbin Park hospital campus is at 100 Flagler Health Way near Racetrack Road in Saint Johns.
The 395,000-square-foot hospital, which is expected to be completed in late 2025, will have 150 beds.
It will focus on orthopedics, neurosurgery, cardiovascular medicine and women’s services.
The hospital will offer acute, intensive and emergency care.
The project is expected to bring 1,500 to 2,000 new jobs. UF Health, which has two hospitals and multiple other facilities in the area, will have 12,000 employees in Northeast Florida when Durbin Park is at full employment.
A medical office building is already under construction near the hospital’s footprint.
UF Health has 10 hospitals in the University of Florida health system including the teaching hospital at UF Health Jacksonville in Springfield north of Downtown.
In North Jacksonville, UF Health North has a medical campus at 15255 Max Leggett Parkway east of River City Marketplace.
UF Health also has opened three Jacksonville-based Emergency & Urgent Care Centers.
The Durbin groundbreaking follows the UF Health merger with Flagler Health+, which was completed Sept 1.
Flagler Health+ became UF Health St. Johns and Flagler Hospital became UF Health Flagler Hospital.
In June 2020, Flagler Health+ announced the purchase of 40 acres in Durbin Park, where it would construct its third Flagler Health+ Village.
Over time, the University of Florida will have invested $1 billion in new facilities and workforce in Northeast Florida, Hosseini said.
“Our bold vision will let us accomplish great things together. When it comes to going bold, UF knows a thing or two. Make no mistake. The University of Florida does not make small plans,” he said.
UF President Ben Sasse said integrating AI technology is important in all facets of a UF education.
“We aren’t just preparing students for their first job. We need to prepare them for their third job in a sector that doesn’t even exist today,” he said.
Sasse had little to say about the proposed health and financial technology graduate center in or near Downtown Jacksonville.
Announcements about the graduate center would come on or after March 26, Sasse said after the groundbreaking. He gave no hint about where the school will be built.
He said he had no firm answers about funding because legislation concerning the proposed Jacksonville facility are in the Florida Legislature.