The State University System Board of Governors on Wednesday approved a Florida State University proposal to issue more than $413 million in bonds to build a hospital in Panama City Beach.
That 80-bed facility, scheduled to open in 2028, will be part of a partnership between Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and FSU. Pending city approval, the health system is expected to operate the hospital under the "FSU Health" brand while the university owns it.
The bonds would be paid off over 30 years.
The FSU Board of Trustees approved the financing in a meeting earlier in the day.
“This collaboration with FSU represents an exciting step forward in expanding high-quality health care services for Panama City Beach and the surrounding region,” Tallahassee Memorial president and CEO Mark O’Bryant said in a statement. “By combining our expertise and resources, we are ensuring this growing community has access to top-tier medical care, both now and in the future.”
The hospital would be part of a new 87-acre health care campus at State Road 79 and Philip Griffitts Senior Parkway. The St. Joe Co., a developer and landowner, is donating 16.5 acres of land to FSU for the project adjacent to a new medical office building.
The hospital will include primary care, urgent care, an ambulatory surgery center, cardiology and orthopedic services.
The partnership includes a Academic Clinical Collaboration Agreement, designed to create opportunities for FSU graduate medical education initiatives and improve the training and development of health care professionals in Northwest Florida.
“I think this gives FSU a great vehicle by which to introduce some of their training and other things they desperately need for their medical school and ancillary health programs, and I think this is a great move for Florida State strategically,” said Alan Levine, a member of the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida's public colleges and universities.
Information from WFSU's Regan McCarthy and the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
