Naples Just Broke Ground on Its First Medical School. It Will Graduate 100 New Doctors a Year.

Naples has never had a medical school. As of Tuesday, that's changing.

The Naples College of Osteopathic Medicine broke ground July 21 on its future campus near the corner of Hacienda Lakes Boulevard and Collier Boulevard in South Naples, a $170 million, 108,000-square-foot facility that will train the next generation of physicians for Southwest Florida and beyond.

The project's total economic impact is projected at $200 million over 25 years from private business spin-offs alone, with an annual operations impact of $128 million and a 25-year workforce economic contribution of $1.4 billion.

The Naples College of Osteopathic Medicine will occupy more than five acres in a site that already has proper zoning and was described as shovel-ready throughout the approval process. The 108,000-square-foot academic facility will include modern classrooms, simulation labs, training facilities, and clinical spaces designed to accommodate approximately 400 students at full enrollment.

Construction is targeted for completion by the end of 2027. The inaugural class is expected to begin in fall 2028, with graduation in 2032.

The school will graduate approximately 100 new physicians each year at full capacity, a meaningful contribution to a region facing serious physician shortage pressures.

The Naples College of Osteopathic Medicine is being developed by Bay College of Osteopathic Medicine LLC, the fourth medical school under the umbrella of Patel Global University, the enterprise built by Florida entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Kiran C. Patel. The Patel family previously funded the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine with a $75 million gift, and that school opened in March 2024.

The Naples school is being developed in collaboration with Naples Comprehensive Health, which is partnering on clinical training opportunities for students. NCH's clinical staff, board, and administration have all had input on the proposed school and how a partnership would work. NCH views the collaboration as a direct tool for addressing the physician recruitment challenge the system faces, instead of traveling constantly to recruit physicians to Naples, the school creates a pipeline of doctors who train here and, the hope is, stay here.

The project includes a $6 million economic development agreement with Collier County, approved in 2025.

The physician shortage is not an abstract statistic in Collier County. The national physician shortage is projected to exceed 60,000 by 2030 and 150,000 by 2037. Southwest Florida, with a large, aging, year-round and seasonal population and limited medical school presence, has been particularly exposed to that shortage.

NCH leadership regularly travels out of the region to recruit physicians. The Van Domelen Pavilion for Women and Children, the $350 million project NCH is fundraising for now, will create additional demand for specialized physicians that the current pipeline isn't reliably supplying.

A medical school in South Naples changes the long-term math. Students who train at a local school, do their clinical rotations at NCH, and build roots in the community are statistically more likely to stay and practice here. Dean and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Robert Hasty said the school will focus on giving local students opportunities to pursue medicine, with the expectation that many will stay for training and practice in Southwest Florida.

The Hacienda Lakes Boulevard and Collier Boulevard corridor has been evolving steadily with residential growth, new retail, and expanding services east of I-75. A medical school adds a different kind of weight to that corridor — the kind of anchor institution that draws auxiliary professional services, housing demand from faculty and staff, and a demographic profile that differs meaningfully from what has historically been a residential stretch.

338 new jobs are projected to be created from 2026 to 2028, many in the salary range of $100,000 per employee. By 2035, the school is anticipated to generate $100 million in research activity.

Naples has been building its healthcare infrastructure at a remarkable pace — the NCH cardiac center, the orthopedic complex, the Van Domelen Pavilion, and now its first medical school, all in a compressed window. Tuesday's groundbreaking is the latest piece of a healthcare landscape being rebuilt from the ground up.

The first class arrives in fall 2028. Naples has been waiting for this for a long time.

Information sourced from Marco Island Eagle, Gulf Shore Business, Naples Press, Florida Trend, and Collier County government records.