TAMPA BAY’S NEW WORLD-CLASS MEDICAL DISTRICT

With Tampa General Hospital and the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine as its anchors, downtown Tampa will have a medical district that rivals those in the biggest cities

Tampa General Hospital’s main campus address on the edge of downtown is the ideal location to anchor the downtown medical district.

BY ERIC BARTON

If you’ve been to Chicago, Houston, or Boston, perhaps you’ve seen them: sections of the city that serve as medical districts, where hospitals, universities, and all kinds of clinics and doctors’ offices cluster together and patients can find experts across a wide range of fields

In Florida, we’ve never had this kind of expansive medical district. But Tampa General Hospital now headlines a growing medical district that includes a brand-new, state-of-the-art location for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and several health care providers in downtown Tampa.

The idea was inspired by the century-old Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston and the Texas Medical Center district in Houston, which formed in 1945, said TGH President and CEO John Couris.

“While we are learning from what has been done in other states, we are really creating a new model of care—something that doesn’t exist in the state of Florida,” Couris said. “We’re an institution that, for almost 100 years, has enjoyed an excellent reputation overall. Because of our team, new strategic plan, vision, focus, and collaboration with USF Health, we are in a renaissance period for TGH. We are investing in the future.”

Tampa’s medical district began organically, starting with TGH and its 1,041-bed campus. In 2017, TGH had 17 locations in the community. It now has more than 80, including imaging, primary care, subspecialty clinics, convenient care, and others.

“We’re expanding our footprint from Hillsborough to all of West Central Florida and even across

TGH is investing more than $550 million in building a new physical plant, modernizing infrastructure, and adding more capacity.

the state in a very cost-effective way. We want to then pass this value on to the consumer,” Couris said.

TGH also is expanding and modernizing its existing facilities. Over the next three years, TGH will invest more than $550 million in building a new physical plant, modernizing infrastructure, and adding more capacity. These changes will include adding more than 100 hospital beds and 12 operating rooms, building a freestanding emergency department just west of downtown Tampa, and renovating several areas of the hospital.

A Medical Ecosystem

“The whole idea behind it is that if you build an ecosystem centered around world-class clinical care and research, then talent and venture capital for investment in further innovation follows,” Couris said. “What we are building inside the city will create economic prosperity for people in the form of new jobs, thriving industries, and ultimately a healthier population, which will drive down health care costs.”

The anchor of the medical district, TGH is one of the largest freestanding academic research institutions in the state and the country, with three million square feet on 25 acres. Nearby is the University of Tampa, with its nursing and allied health programs. Two years ago, the University of South Florida opened a new location for its Morsani College of Medicine nearby. The groupings of these three organizations created a natural synergy of health care services that is evolving into this downtown medical district, said TGH Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Stacey Brandt.

“Predominantly, you see them in large cities,” Brandt said. “It’s a cross-section of health care delivery, research, and education—and it’s really meant to become the destination for all of those things.”

Expanding Footprint, Services

In addition to the three signature health care institutions already in downtown Tampa, many other related offices and clinics have opened or are planned nearby. At TGH, several new and existing buildings will help link the medical district.

TGH is leasing a 25,000-square-foot space inside the medical school’s new downtown building and is opening a 200-bed acute care rehabilitation center near the University of Tampa

The USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation, located in the heart of the Tampa medical district

IF YOU BUILD A CONCENTRATION OF GREAT, WORLD-CLASS CLINICAL CARE, YOU ATTRACT WORLD-CLASS CLINICIANS AND RESEARCHERS, AND VENTURE CAPITAL FOR INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION FOLLOWS.”

— John Couris

to connect to its future freestanding emergency department on Kennedy Boulevard. TGH has opened a dozen TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track locations in Tampa Bay. The USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation is also downtown.

Many of the pieces of the medical district are already in place, but now it’s about filling in the gaps between the campuses and companies to help create new synergies and alliances, elevating Tampa’s national health hub. “We have a really great foundation already,” Brandt said.

This cluster, or concentration of compatible services and resources, will create a center for health and science research—a medical research biotech ecosystem—that is expected to spur more growth as other medical-related companies and research groups become established nearby, Brandt said.

However, not all the companies and facilities drawn to the district will be directly involved with health care, Brandt noted. TGH would like to see a hotel built near its campus to provide accommodations for family members of the many patients who arrive from elsewhere to receive care at the hospital. It could also accommodate visiting researchers and academicians.

For the community, this means first and foremost that patients will have access to a wide breadth of health care facilities, Brandt said. Patients will also benefit from the research and advances that will develop out of the centers and labs that call the district home. Tampa Bay will also see a benefit in keeping and attracting talented employees in health and other industries who may otherwise have sought out a medical district in another city. Talented new graduates also will be more likely to stay in the area because of increased opportunities.

As the district grows and becomes at least as sprawling as those in other cities, Brandt said it will help Tampa Bay grow as a destination. “It’s exciting to look at this and imagine what the future will be,” Brandt said. “This district will be an economic engine for the market and attract talent that will bring in new professionals to the city and create a spark that will continue to drive innovation.”