Less than a year after opening a 110-bed hospital in Venice, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System has started master planning and pre-construction site work on a new medical campus and hospital in North Port. Sarasota Memorial Hospital-North Port will be constructed on a 32-acre undeveloped site in the 4900 block of Sumter Boulevard near I-75. Sarasota Memorial purchased the parcel in 2007 with a pledge from the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board to invest in the medical infrastructure needed to support a hospital in North Port. Hospital officials met with North Port leaders on Tuesday to discuss preliminary plans and the timeline for city permits SMH will seek before construction begins. Officials estimate it will take about 3 years to plan and begin building SMH-North Port. SMH plans to create an SMH-North Port Neighborhood Advisory Council to solicit input and feedback from nearby residents and businesses as plans unfold. Founded in 1925, Sarasota Memorial is the region’s only public health system. Through the decades, the county’s first modern hospital grew from a modest 32-bed facility to an 895-bed regional medical center, a 5-star rated facility that has been repeatedly recognized as one of America’s best and safest hospitals. Its comprehensive network includes a second acute-care hospital that opened in Venice in November 2021, as well as more than a dozen urgent care centers and outpatient campuses that stretch from north Manatee County to its freestanding ER and healthcare center in North Port. SMH-North Port will be the health system’s third acute-care hospital and the first hospital for the city of North Port. With more than 80,000 residents, North Port is now the largest city both in land mass and population in Sarasota County, and one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. The size, cost and construction schedule for the hospital are still being finalized. SMH is working on a campus design that will be flexible and expandable. Initially, SMH-North Port will open with about 100 beds, but have the capacity to more than double in size to meet the community’s evolving needs. For future updates on the new hospital and health care facilities in North Port, visit: smh.com/NorthPortUpdates.