University cuts ribbon on $130M downtown health center

TAMPA — In a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and top University of South Florida officials, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute officially opened in downtown Tampa Jan. 8.

USF, in a press release, says the 13-story, 395,000-square-foot facility will transform the institution’s medical education delivery and generate millions of dollars in annual economic impact. It’s also being touted as a key anchor property for Strategic Property Partners’ $3 billion Water Street Tampa development that’s transforming more than 50 acres in downtown Tampa.

“We at USF Health are unflagging optimists, and we see this new facility and our growing partnership with Tampa General Hospital as grand opportunities to position ourselves among the very best of academic medical centers,” states Charles Lockwood, M.D., senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, in the release. “It is our bold vision to be national leaders in collaboration and innovation, training the next generation of physicians and pioneering world-changing discoveries. There is nowhere better to do this than in downtown Tampa.”

Some 1,800 medical students will study at the new facility, the release states. The project was funded by a $20 million gift from Carol and Frank Morsani and $110 million appropriated by the Florida Legislature.

“A project of this magnitude only happens because of the vision and support of many partners,” USF President Steven Currall states in the release. “The academic, research and economic significance of this project will be felt for generations to come. Most important will be the improved health and well-being of our friends and neighbors across the Tampa Bay region, throughout the state of Florida and beyond.”