At a news conference on Sept. 25, Tampa-area cardiologist Dr. Kiran C. Patel and his wife, pediatrician Dr. Pallavi Patel, announced that their Patel Family Foundation would be committing $200 million to NSU; the largest sum ever donated to the university. The Patel’s commitment includes a $50 million gift as well as an additional $150 million real estate and facility investment. This investment will be used to develop a new 325,000 square-foot medical education complex which will serve as the future home of NSU’s Tampa Bay Regional Campus and house NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
The Patel’s commitment will aid in the advancement of local and international healthcare in due in part to the program’s focus on multicultural and underserved communities. The goal would be to integrate medical and healthcare expertise to ensure that patients remain a priority.
“I feel that it is more important than ever to advance the current state of health care,” said Dr. Kiran C. Patel. “It is rare for someone to have the opportunity to impact the world in this way, and, as an immigrant to the United States, I am particularly honored to be able to make a difference in people’s lives around the world. I believe that NSU is the future of multi-disciplinary medical education. Together, we will be able to capitalize on an opportunity that will be beneficial to millions of human lives, many right here in Florida and many others across the globe.”
As a result of the Patel Family Foundation’s commitment, NSU will have raised more than 84 percent of its $250 million goal as outlined by the 2020 Realizing Potential campaign. In turn, the osteopathic colleges will be renamed as the NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences, which will include an endowed scholarship fund for students, and provide course offerings in physical therapy, occupational therapy and anesthesiologist assistantship.
Additionally, the former 27-acre site of the Clearwater Christian College will be developed into the NSU Tampa Bay Regional Campus. Beginning in the fall semester of 2019, NSU will host a class of 150 D.O. students to be trained at the new NSU Tampa Bay Regional Campus in Clearwater. Approximately 230 additional osteopathic medicine students will continue to study each year at NSU’s Fort Lauderdale/Davie campus. The recently developed college will increase the NSU’s graduating D.O. physicians class from 230 to 380 students per year, significantly increasing the number of trained physicians joining the field each year from NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.
“This partnership will benefit thousands of patients, students and doctors,” said Dr. Pallavi Patel. “Over the next 20 years, NSU will train thousands of new doctors and other healthcare professionals who will directly touch millions of lives, making a real difference.”
Currently, NSU is the main contributor of medical doctors and physician assistants in the state of Florida with 40 percent of the university’s osteopathic medicine (D.O.) graduate practicing within the state. Sixty percent of those physicians work by treating patients in medically underserved areas. The Patels note that this was a vital factor in their decision to invest in NSU’s colleges of osteopathic medicine and healthcare sciences.
“This gift and additional investment will enrich NSU’s ability to educate highly-qualified physicians and health care professionals who understand how the medical disciplines can and must work together,” said NSU President George Hanbury. “These future leaders will represent the cultural diversity of our region, our nation and our world so that they can better serve their patients and communities … [and] will make NSU the premiere leader in healthcare education on both the east and west coasts of Florida.”
