Well on its way to becoming one of the Southeast's premier centers for medical treatment of any kind, Tampa is home to more than a dozen major hospitals, a Children's Cancer Center, the University of South Florida's Medical Center (where teaching and research are combined with patient care), and the university's H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, a 162-bed hospital. The completion of a $10 million addition to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute vivarium and laboratory research facility is expected in 2005. The city also has more than 2,000 physicians practicing in at least 50 different specialties.
The pride of the local medical establishment is Tampa General Hospital, which serves as the regional referral center in such fields as burn treatment, neonatal and pediatric care, and poison control. In 2004, work began on a $65 million, four-story addition to Tampa General Hospital, adding a 280,000 square foot emergency department and Level 1 trauma center. The primary teaching hospital for the University of South Florida's College of Medicine, Tampa General is operated by the Hillsborough County Hospital Authority.
The University Community Health system operates four hospitals throughout Tampa with a combined total of 1,019 beds. The system's new Pepin Heart Hospital and Research Institute is scheduled to begin operations in 2005.