Sanford Burnham proposals down to 1
Florida Hospital pulls its offer; only UCF left
Florida Hospital dropped its bid Tuesday to acquire the Sanford Burnham facility, a week after Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs complained that she didn’t know about the exclusive nature of the deal.
The health system announced its decision in a letter addressed to the mayors of Orlando and Orange County and Tavistock, the land development company that helped set up the research center a decade ago.
“Though our proposal has merit, we have no interest in being part of a process where winning requires that major community partners seek to defeat each other,” Daryl Tol, president and CEO of Florida Hospital wrote in the letter. “This type of process will be lengthy and difficult and require focus and resources from all sides better used in the interest of the community.” He was not available for an interview.
This leaves University of Central Florida as the only other entity that has presented a plan to take over Sanford Burnham.
“If asked by the mayors and Tavistock, we are prepared to move forward with our proposal
“Though our proposal has merit, we have no interest in being part of a process where winning requires that major community partners seek to defeat each other.” Daryl Tol, president and CEO of Florida Hospital
for a university-based cancer research and treatment center in Medical City,” UCF said in a statement Tuesday. “If given the opportunity, we look forward to partnering with our community to expand cancer research.”
Florida Hospital’s withdrawal is yet another unexpected turn in this two-year ride, which has been tangled in a web of complicated documents and political moves by state and local officials who have been trying to distance themselves from the implosion of one of the state’s largest incentive packages — more than $350 million.
Florida Hospital had been in talks with Sanford Burnham for nearly a year to draft a deal that would let the health system take over the facility and establish a cancer research and treatment center, freeing Sanford Burnham to leave Florida. The two say they had informed the stakeholders about the deal and were close to finalizing their agreement when UCF College of Medicine decided to put in a bid for the site late last year.
Then things got complicated.
Florida Hospital officials were caught off guard when they became the subject of pointed questions from Mayor Teresa Jacobs during the Orange County Commission meeting last week.
Jacobs said she was aware of talks between Sanford Burnham and the health system but didn’t know about the exclusive nature of the agreement. She only learned about it late last year, when UCF put in a bid too but could not get in the Sanford Burnham building for a thorough assessment of the facility and its equipment. The institute cited its agreement with Florida Hospital as the barrier.
Jacobs did not mince words during the meeting when expressing her displeasure.
“What I’m trying to figure out, since we invested $40 million in local taxpayer funds to build that building and we’re seeing no return at all dollar-wise on that direct investment, I was surprised to learn that Sanford Burnham had entered into an agreement,” she told Florida Hospital officials. “I was surprised that there was a non-compete component. I was surprised that when we tried to have access to the building, we weren’t, UCF wasn’t … able to because of the non-compete agreement.”
Sanford Burnham officials were not present at the meeting, but the institute’s spokeswoman, Deborah Robison, later said in a statement, “UCF [or anybody else] is certainly more than welcome to visit SBPLake Nona site … Including an exclusivity clause is a standard process when discussions extend over a period of time to protect and respect both the organizations’ efforts and commitment.”
Jacobs asked Florida Hospital to share the agreement document with the county. Hospital officials agreed. But with Tuesday’s withdrawal, it’s not clear if that document will be made public.
In its proposal, Florida Hospital was the main funder, investing $100 million over 10 years, and was planning to bring in its partner, Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, to establish a cancer research and treatment center. It expected to create at least 205 jobs in five years and 315 jobs in a decade.
UCF proposed three partners — Sarah Cannon Cancer Research Institute, which is Hospital Corporation of America’s cancer research division; Provision Healthcare, a network of cancer centers and developer of next-generation proton beam therapy; and Alter+Care, an Illinoisbased development and investment company — to create a comprehensive cancer research and treatment center.
The partners would invest more than $85 million in the first year with the promise of more than 300 higher-salary jobs after five years.
Orlando Health has not thrown in its hat, but one of its senior vice presidents, former Sen. Andy Gardiner, who requested a last-minute slot on the Jan. 23 agenda, threw a curveball by encouraging the commissioners to open up the process to all nonprofits in the community.
In the end, the county commissioners either favored UCF’s proposal or preferred Gardiner’s suggestion.
Jacobs said Tuesday that the stakeholders are moving forward.
“We’ve already started to organize our process forward, and have reached out to our funding partners, Mayor Dyer at the City of Orlando and Sesh Thakkar at Lake Nona Land Company, to determine whether there is unanimous agreement on the next steps,” Jacobs said.
Meanwhile, the research institute continues to operate with the remaining faculty and staff in Lake Nona. Robison said no departure date has been set.
“The local stakeholders will determine the process moving forward and have not yet informed SBP of the next steps,” Sanford Burnham president and CEO Dr. Kristiina Vuori wrote to the Lake Nona staff Tuesday in an email obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. “We will provide you with updated information as it becomes available.”