A $5 million gift from Mayo Clinic will help Sulzbacher complete this campus in Northwest Jacksonville.
Published on December 20, 2023 at 3:05 pm
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More medical resources are being put into an area of Jacksonville that is in desperate need of health care.
The Mayo Clinic announced Wednesday that it is giving $5 million to Sulzbacher to go toward the $70 million Enterprise Village campus planned on 17 acres near Interstate 95 and Golfair Boulevard.
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Sulzbacher is an organization that provides resources to Jacksonville’s homeless population, but this gift will go toward a new phase of the campus that will provide health care services to anyone in need.
The facility will provide primary care, behavioral health, and optical and dental services to the 32209 ZIP code.
Sulzbacher CEO Cindy Funkhouser said the gift is important.
“To be able to bring that to ZIP code 32209 is a game changer. That is a health desert there, and to be able to bring Mayo physicians, residents and fellows into that health desert to provide the highest quality health care, in addition to our high-quality health care that we do through our federal clinic, it’s just a great partnership,” Funkhouser said.
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The campus also will include a pharmacy. Sulzbacher and Mayo Clinic will work together to create access to virtual care capabilities and services.
Kent Thielen, CEO of Mayo Clinic Florida, agreed that the area needs medical services.
“We feel very good about the opportunity to help address in part some of the needs that exist there, and this is a wonderful step toward starting to provide more opportunities for those patients and citizens to be the healthiest that they possibly can,” Thielen said.
Thielen said the $5 million donation is part of $22 million the organization is giving to causes in the communities it serves in Arizona, Minnesota and various other parts of the Midwest.
Funkhouser said Enterprise Village will consist of housing, health care, and jobs and training. The first phase will consist of 100 permanent studio apartments for people to get back on their feet. Construction on that phase is expected to begin in the fall of next year. Phase 2 will be the health care facility, with construction beginning in early 2025.
Phase 3 could begin in 2025, and completion of the whole campus is scheduled to be done in 2026.
