Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is moving forward with plans to open a new endoscopy and digestive health center next to its Venice hospital campus.
The Sarasota County Public Hospital Board recently approved plans for the $12 million outpatient center, which will be located in a leased facility that is being developed contiguous to the SMH-Venice campus at 2695 Curry Lane, Nokomis.
Flagship Healthcare Properties is developing a three-story, 54,000-square-foot medical office building on the vacant parcel adjacent to the Venice hospital campus. Sarasota Memorial signed a lease to occupy at least one floor with outpatient endoscopy services.
“We are looking forward to opening the outpatient center and expanding capacity as soon as possible,” said SMH-Venice President Sharon Roush. “The need for screenings, both routine outpatient and inpatient, has been increasing every year. Expanding our capacity will reduce wait times and the amount of time from screening to diagnosis, ensuring timely care for all of our patients.”
Since the SMH-Venice hospital opened in late 2021, the volume of gastrointestinal procedures has nearly quadrupled, from just over 1,000 in fiscal 2022 to 3,762 in fiscal 2025. Currently, both inpatient and outpatient endoscopies are performed inside the hospital.
Expanding endoscopy services to an adjacent center will allow the SMH-Venice gastrointestinal team to schedule more colonoscopies and routine diagnostic procedures outside the hospital, while increasing capacity to treat acute, complex cases inside the hospital, Roush said. The outpatient location, which will remain a department of the hospital, also will provide easier access and more convenient parking for outpatients.
Pending permitting and city approvals, Flagship plans to complete the outpatient building in the second quarter of 2027. SMH’s design/build team will work in tandem to develop a 17,000-square-foot endoscopy center in the building, with an opening goal in late 2027. As proposed, the endoscopy center will have 24 exam rooms and four procedural suites, as well as pre- and post-procedural areas. It will be equipped with the latest endoscopic testing and treatment technology to diagnose and treat diseases and disorders involving the esophagus, stomach, colon, intestines, liver, pancreas and biliary tree.
