Sarasota Memorial breaks ground on $82.5M Venice rehab pavilion

Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System broke ground Friday on an $82.5 million rehabilitation pavilion on its Venice hospital campus. The four-story building is expected to be complete by summer 2028.

Spanning 83,000 square feet, the rehab pavilion will serve those recovering from strokes, serious injuries, surgeries and other complex medical conditions by helping them regain strength, mobility and independence.

The first floor will offer outpatient services, while the second and third floors will contain 50 private inpatient suites with room to expand, Maria DeCarlo, Sarasota Memorial’s vice president of post-acute care and rehabilitative services, says in a recorded interview provided by SMH. The rehab pavilion will also provide advanced therapy gyms; physical, occupational and speech therapy; and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services, according to a statement.

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Specially designed spaces will replicate real-life environments where patients can practice and therapists can provide skilled interventions — a kitchen, grocery shopping area, outdoor mobility garden, transitional apartment and vehicle transfer area will help patients regain or adapt the skills they need to move about safely when they return home.

“Rehabilitation is about helping patients regain not only their strength and independence, but also the confidence to return to the activities that matter most in their lives,” DeCarlo says in a statement. 

The Venice rehabilitation pavilion is one of several projects Sarasota Memorial is working on in south Sarasota County expected to open in 2028. A $12 million outpatient facility providing radiation oncology and infusion services as well as an endoscopy and digestive health center is planned on Curry Road near Sarasota Memorial’s Venice hospital campus. In addition, Sarasota Memorial is building a $507 million hospital on North Sumter Boulevard in North Port.

“These projects represent a significant investment in the future of health care across our region,” Sarasota Memorial CEO David Verinder says in the statement.

The Sarasota County Public Hospital Board authorized the $82.5 million Venice rehabilitation pavilion project in September 2025. The architect is Gresham Smith (which designed Sarasota Memorial's Sarasota rehabilitation pavilion), while the general contractor is DeAngelis Diamond.

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Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System is a community-owned healthcare system that has 11,000 employees and handles 2 million patient visits a year across its network, which includes two full-service hospitals in Sarasota and Venice, with a third being built in North Port; freestanding ERs in North Port and Lakewood Ranch; a rehabilitation hospital; skilled nursing facility; and outpatient centers, urgent care clinics and First Physician Group primary and specialty care practices. SMH also plans to acquire 120 acres in Manatee County for future expansion. The healthcare system reported operating revenue of $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2025.