MEDIA CONTACT: Kristine M. McGrath
561-297-1168, kmcgrath@fau.edu or
Chris Dardet
561-866-7922, cdardet@brch.com
BOCA RATON, FL (December 19, 2006) - Florida Atlantic University received approval from Florida’s Cabinet today to sublease a parcel of land to Boca Raton Community Hospital, Inc. (BRCH) to operate a community-university affiliated teaching hospital that will serve as the primary teaching hospital for FAU’s medical education programs.
“The teaching hospital will provide an important learning experience for the physicians of tomorrow,” said FAU President Frank T. Brogan. “The opportunities created by this partnership will propel FAU forward in becoming a cornerstone of medical education and research.”
The parcel of land that FAU will lease comprises approximately 38 contiguous acres located on the southeastern corner of its Boca Raton campus at the intersection of Glades Road and Florida Atlantic Blvd. The initial lease term is 99 years, commencing in 2006, with an option to renew the lease for one additional term of up to 99 years. The lease also sets the terms upon which FAU will support BRCH’s attempt to purchase the parcel from the State, should BRCH choose to do so.
“Plans are already underway to design and construct the Safest Hospital in America,” said BRCH President and CEO Gary Strack. “Through our organizations’ shared resources and vision, the South Florida population will have access to the very best medical care, and will be assured of having an ample supply of well trained physicians and nurses to treat them.”
BRCH will construct a 530 bed hospital with the ability to expand up to 700 beds. The hospital will provide to FAU an environment to support undergraduate medical education and graduate medical education programs, nursing programs and allied health related professions customary to primary teaching hospitals within major academic medical centers. The hospital will include resident/student conference rooms, a conference center with teleconferencing capabilities including an auditorium and small group conference rooms, resident sleeping quarters with lockers, resident dining facilities, a resident lounge, a medical library with state-of-the-art IT systems and increased square footage in other areas of the hospital to accommodate students and residents.
In May 2005, the Florida Board of Governors approved expanding FAU’s medical education partnership with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (UM) to a full four-year regional medical campus. In January 2006, the FAU Board of Trustees approved a Regional Academic Medical Center Agreement among BRCH, FAU and UM. The proposed sublease finalizes the commitment to house FAU’s medical education programs in the teaching hospital that BRCH will construct on FAU’s Boca Raton campus.
For more information, contact Dr. Michael Friedland at FAU at 561-297-2219 or Chris Dardet at BRCH at 561-866-7922.
- FAU -
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 26,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses strategically located along 150 miles of Florida's southeastern coastline. Building on its rich tradition as a teaching university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts nine colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, and the Colleges of Business, Education, Engineering & Computer Science, and Architecture, Urban & Public Affairs.
