UF Health Breaks Ground on Durbin Park Campus

The University of Florida and UF Health broke ground earlier this month at UF Health Durbin Park, a 42.5-acre healthcare campus. The project is part of the university’s expansion plans for Jacksonville and St. Johns County, according to a media release.

The first phase of the UF Health Durbin Park development, located in northeast St. Johns County, will include a full-service 150-bed hospital with a focus on orthopedics, neurosurgery, cardiovascular medicine and and women’s services, as well as a multidisciplinary medical office building and an ambulatory surgery center, the release states. The project is expected to bring 2,000 new jobs to the area, for a total of 12,000 jobs in St. Johns and Jacksonville over time and represents a $1 billion investment in Northeast Florida.

“I have two simple messages,” said Mori Hosseini, chair of the UF Board of Trustees, in the release. First, if “you want the highest quality of care, UF Health is here for you. Second, we’re here because the University of Florida has a bold vision for Northeast Florida.”

“We dare to dream big. We set high goals. And we hold ourselves to high standards,” he added. “When we do this, we achieve incredible things. We raise the bar. We deliver incredible results for Floridians. That’s exactly what we are going to do for St. Johns and the Jacksonville community… When the moment calls for nothing short of the best, come to UF Health.”

Once complete, the 395,000-square-foot hospital will include acute, intensive and emergency care; operating rooms; as well as an imaging suite and hybrid labs for interventional procedures. Site work for construction of the hospital began in December 2023 and UF Health expects to care for the first patient by late 2025, according to the release.

UF President Ben Sasse said UF and UF Health are committed to working collaboratively with the community to best meet the needs of patients and their families.

“Together we are doubling down on bringing our unique approach to problem-solving care to the region, care that will simply make people’s lives better,” Sasse said in the release. “This is a region on the rise, and we are proud to match our exceptional expertise with the needs of the community to revolutionize health services for the citizens of Florida. The work that we do here is going to save lives.”

Carlton DeVooght, CEO of UF Health St. Johns and former CEO of FlaglerHealth+, which became part of UF Health last year, said the groundbreaking was a cause for celebration.

“Now is our time. It’s a time to celebrate not just the construction of a building, but the birth of a new era in health care for our community,” he said in the release. “With UF Health Durbin Park, we’re poised to become pioneers of innovation, compassion, and excellence in health care delivery. This won’t just be a hospital; it will be a cornerstone of our community — a place where patients will find comfort, families will find solace, and caregivers will find purpose. Our commitment to serving our community drives us forward with unwavering dedication and determination.”