Construction is complete on FSU Health's $137.5 million Health Research and Collaboration building. The university unveiled it during a ribbon cutting Friday.
The building is named after Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who helped get funding for the project when he served as Florida's Senate president. It is part of an effort to expand FSU Health across The Panhandle at a time when experts say healthcare needs in North Florida are projected to skyrocket over the next several years.
Florida State University president Richard McCullough said the facility is a first step toward meeting those needs and creating a legacy of high-quality healthcare in the region.
"I was saying to the Board of Trustees [Friday] morning, we are in a privileged position that we can make a difference in healthcare for the citizens, and so we have to do it. We have to do it. We have to get it done because if we don't get it done, then nobody else will. And so that's what's so wonderful about this this moment today," he said.
The transfer of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare's property from the city to the university has faced pushback from some members of the public and some local elected officials, but McCullough said he thinks the opposition was largely driven by scare tactics and misinformation.
"I had the hardest time understanding all of this because, to me, this is a just a complete no-brainer. I mean, the merger of the two of us together with the millions, hundreds of millions of dollars that we're putting into this hospital and into this healthcare system, it's the only way it can happen," he said.
A timeline for when the building will be open is not clear. The building contains clinical research lab space, resources for a family residency practice and learning spaces for medical students.
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