Nice to see USF in the news for all the right reasons. Nothing to do with disappointing football losses. Nothing to do with low graduation rates. Nothing to do with Florida Follytech.
But something, ironically, to do with Lakeland–something that JD Alexander can’t do anything about.
The announcement that USF’s ambition to create a regional health system is much more than the cutting-edge dream of USF Health CEO Dr. Stephen Klasko is huge. We now know that the USF Health System will be launched early next year with a key partner, the independent, 851-bed Lakeland Regional Medical Center, coming on board. The new partnership should add more than 200 new medical residencies to USF’s existing 700.
This means USF will have the largest doctor-training program in Florida. It also means that USF, with its 41-year-old medical school, is demonstrably realizing its potential as a major regional player with its own recognizable brand. LRMC, the fifth largest hospital in the state, could have joined a hospital chain in this era of rapidly ratcheting, health-care consolidation.
It obviously was attracted to USF’s academic orientation and its recent milestones–from the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, the largest diabetes research center in the country and advanced work on personalized health-care treatments to the acclaimed Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation and a top 10 ranking for all universities worldwide for U.S. patents. Sharing a campus with the Moffitt Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated center in Florida, hardly hurt.
Actually, it was quite the fortnight for USF, per se, and that doesn’t even include having the Today show drop by last week to spotlight the Bulls as one of six finalists in its College Challenge to find the nation’s top school-spirit institution. Nor does it include the official grand re-opening of the Sun Dome. Renovated to the tune of $35.6 million, the Dome drew a sold-out crowd of 10,000 for the glitzy Elton John concert.
The really big news was that research funding has now topped the $400 million mark, landing USF for the first time among the nation’s top 50 public and private universities.
And one other thing. Go, bulls. Beat Florida State!