Tampa General to build medical facility at Babcock Ranch

Tampa General Hospital will build an urgent care facility in Babcock Ranch, the solar-powered development in Lee and Charlotte counties.

The hospital group announced Thursday that the 6,500-square-foot facility will be in the Shoppes at Yellow Pine, a retail center under construction in the community.

The new clinic will be open seven days a week and will treat common illnesses and injuries, according to a statement. Other services will include school and sports physicals and X-rays as well as testing for infectious conditions including COVID-19 and the flu. Occupational health services will also be available and include pre-employment screenings, employment physicals, workers’ compensation injuries and vaccinations.

It is expected to open in 2025.

In the statement, Tom Hoban, president and chief investment officer for the developer behind the community, Kitson & Partners, says the new TGH center will join to two other medical organizations — Lee Memorial Physician Group and WellWay — already in the community.

“Health and wellness is an integral part of Babcock Ranch, so this expansion of health care offerings will now give our residents access to best-in-class care,” he says.

Babcock Ranch is an 18,000-acre self-sustaining, eco-friendly master-planned community straddling the two counties and about 45 minutes from downtown Fort Myers. It has an 870-acre solar panel farm powering it and its own water reclamation facility.

About 8,000 residents currently live in the community, but it is expected to have 19,500 homes and a population of about 50,000 people when complete.

Yellow Pine, the 120,000-square-foot shopping center TGH will eventually open in, is currently under construction and will include a lakefront restaurant as well as space for retail, commercial and office tenants. It is expected to open early in 2025.

Just two weeks ago, it announced that about a dozen new tenants had signed leases totaling about 68,000 square feet.