- Site plans went up off of Centerville and Betton Roads for the TMH FSU Academic Health Center.
- The $125 million project will add more than 300 permanent, high-paying jobs to the area.
- Watch the video to hear why the project will aid a shortage of healthcare workers in the area.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Northeast Tallahassee is just two years away from adding hundreds of jobs as leaders look to improve healthcare in the Capital City.
Neighbors noticed this site plan on Betton and Centerville Roads, marking progress that TMH and FSU are making on their new Academic Health Center.
Stacey Patterson said caring for patients is what pushes her each day in her job as FSU's VP of Research.
"Taking that, those ideas, concepts to the bedside where they can actually help people is what really drives me and I think is what really makes place like FSU really impactful," Patterson said.
To make their research even more impactful, they're moving forward with Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare to build a 130 thousand square foot facility here off of Betton and Centerville Roads.
Site plan signs recently went up in the area to let people know about the project.
It's in the design phase and land is being prepared.
"It's a 125 million dollar facility that will combine research, education, community outreach and clinical care," Patterson said. "It's really important that people are able to come and be a part of their healthcare experience."
Funding from a state grant will help pay for the project.
Not only will the space house research, it will also add jobs to our community.
Leaders at FSU said during the three-year construction phase, roughly 1,200 jobs will be created.
Once finished, the idea will support more than 300 high-paying positions in the area.
I asked job experts with CareerSource of the Capital Region how this will have an impact.
"It is great to have those jobs located here in our community that when these students graduate, they don't have to go anywhere," said Khari Harrison with CareerSource.
With an unemployment rate of 3 percent in Leon County, he said it's also a way to bridge a gap with the need for healthcare workers.
"We pretty much are able to fill a lot of the positions here but we still have those positions especially in healthcare that are very much in demand," Harrison said.
That's the reason Patterson said she's excited for the center to cultivate talent and innovation in the heart of the capital city.
"It's a really exciting opportunity now to take that to the next level to where we can bridge the gap between education and research with quality clinical care," Patterson said.
Patterson said the center is expected to start serving the public in the fall of 2026.
