The Teaching Hospital Council of Florida and the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida announced that the state is facing a critical shortage of physicians. There have been calls to create new residency slots, but Dr. Jack Michel, President of Larkin Community Hospital, says that is not enough to solve the problem.

 

“We need to attract residents from across the country to meet this need, but we also need to encourage our local students to pursue careers in health care. By creating Larkin Health Sciences Institute, we are offering a way for local students to study nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, and medicine.”

 

Larkin plans to invest approximately $68 million over 10 years into a 48-acre campus located in Naranja Lakes. Construction will begin in 2015, with the first class of students enrolling in August 2016. The Institute has also purchased a building in Miami Gardens, which currently houses the College of Biomedical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, and College of Health Sciences.

 

Larkin is also looking to partner with Miami-Dade Schools to put a middle school and high school on campus as a way to encourage younger students who want to pursue careers in the health professions.