By HFT Staff

BayCare Health System will open Manatee County’s first hospital north of the Manatee River by the end of 2025 to support expanding health care needs of the rapidly growing community in Tampa, Florida. 

The hospital will provide Northern Manatee County residents access to convenient, high-quality health care, including quicker, closer access to potentially life-saving emergency care. BayCare is working on obtaining necessary zoning approvals as it finalizes construction details. 

BayCare is building a new hospital in Wesley Chapel and a replacement hospital for South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City. 

Both facilities are right-sized for the current population with infrastructure that offers room for future growth. BayCare is taking a similar approach in Manatee County, where the building permit application requests up to 207 private patient rooms, but the initial construction likely will have a smaller bed count. 

The Manatee County hospital will be BayCare’s 17th acute care hospital. The exact hospital size, construction costs, employment opportunities and timelines are still undetermined as BayCare works to maximize the site’s potential.