A 7-story UHealth medical center is rising among apartments. What can patients expect?
is building a seven-story medical center in North Miami-Dade, part of a mega-development of residential towers.
The idea is to take healthcare to a growing population in a dense area that includes Aventura, North Miami Beach and North Miami, said Dr. Dipen Parekh, the chief operating officer of the University of Miami Health System.
The medical center — not a hospital but an outpatient facility that can provide primary and specialty care for cancer, cardiac problems, eye disorders and other conditions — is still under construction. It’s expected to open in June 2025.
The center is UHealth’s largest outpatient medical facility at 363,000 square feet, about the size of seven Publix supermarkets. If you unstack the floors of the new UHealth center and lay them flat, it would be eight and a half acres, said Johnathan Peavy, operations manager for Robins & Morton, during a Friday news conference.
On Friday, UHealth, North Miami and other officials celebrated a construction milestone of the new center, which North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme says will usher in a “new era” of health for the community. Officials say the center is also expected to bring jobs to the area.
The center, just off Biscayne Boulevard near the Biscayne Bay campus of Florida International University, is part of a new vertical city. SoLé Mia is a 184-acre master-planned community developed by Oleta Partners — a joint venture by developers LeFrak and Turnberry.
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SERVICES OFFERED
The new center will be a “crown jewel” for the hospital system and a “source of hope and healing for many of our patients,” Parekh said. Besides primary care, adult and pediatric patients at the new UHealth facility will have access to more than a dozen specialists, including from:
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in South Florida
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, which has long reigned as No. 1 in the country for ophthalmology by U.S. News & World Report.
Desai Sethi Urology Institute, which has one of the largest urology residency-training programs in the country.
Other specialty areas include cardiology, dermatology, physical rehabilUHealth itation, otolaryngology and gastroenterology.
THE CENTER
The seven-story building will have:
110 exam rooms 10 operating rooms 33 clinical cancer treatment units
A reflection garden with views of Biscayne Bay and SoLé Mia’s seven-acre man-made Crystal Lagoon with a beach.
Opening date: The center is expected to open in June 2025 and will be open daily. You don’t have to live at SoLé Mia to get care.
THE GOAL
“Access. Access, Access, Acess,” Parekh told the Miami Herald.
“Typically, access to doctors in the United States is a challenge. It’s no different here in Miami,” Parekh said, noting that UHealth is focused on breaking the barriers to care. “We tackle problems no one else can or wants to tackle.”
UHealth, he said, is focused on opening more facilities across South Florida to bring healthcare to communities. UHealth is also working on opening a new medical center in Doral and a new, 12-story, cancer-research building in Miami.
Besides improving access to care, the new medical center in North Miami will also “become the anchor employer” of the community, according to Jamie LeFrak, principal and vice chair of LeFrak.
WHAT IS SOLÉ MIA?
SoLé Mia is a 184-acre mixed-use project of residential towers, retail and restaurants in North Miami on a former landfill. The land was declared safe for development in 1999.
The SoLé Mia project has been under development since 2015. There’s already a Costco in the community. People can lease apartments. A school is in the works, and nearby schools include a public high school, K-8 center and the north campus of FIU. And this city within a city is also a short drive away from Publix, Target and other stores.
Richard LeFrak, CEO of LeFrak, said the project, once completed, will have about 5,200 apartments.
How will he know if the project is successful?
“Baby carriages,” he said.
“When you build a new community like this, and you start seeing people come in with young children, you know you succeeded,” he said. “Think about it, when people are comfortable enough to move to a new place with their family.”