Demolition of Doctors Gardens to Pave Way for New Research & Education Institute at SMH-Sarasota

Recently recognized as one of the nation’s 40 Top Teaching Hospitals, SMH will
centralize and enhance its research and graduate medical education programs.

Earlier this month, the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board approved plans to tear down Doctors Gardens at the SMH-Sarasota campus to make way for a new Research & Education Institute.

Demolition of the 1950s-era medical office building at the intersection of Arlington Street and Laurent Place will begin next month and take about eight weeks. In its place, Sarasota Memorial plans to build a new five-story facility to house Sarasota Memorial’s clinical research division, clinical and graduate medical education programs, medical library and a new, state-of-the-art simulation center. The project also will include a new parking garage.

Projected to open in 2025, the Research & Education Institute will promote collaboration, discovery and innovation in medical education and research, while freeing up more space inside the hospital for patient care.

In July, SMH was ranked among the top 40 teaching hospitals in the nation in Fortune/Merative’s new “Top Hospitals” report. The hospital’s research and education programs have grown in recent years, with more than 50 active research studies now under way and 68 resident physicians and fellows completing residency and fellowship training in partnership with Florida State University’s College of Medicine.

The Institute will consolidate research and education space for our internal medicine, emergency medicine and palliative care physician training programs, as well as education areas that promote collaboration among nursing staff and clinicians from various specialties.

The new facility also will have an advanced medical simulation center to allow clinicians to practice and master new patient care techniques and treatment protocols.

Watch for more details as plans for the new institute move forward!