Jacksonville Business News | Healthcare & Life Sciences | September 23, 2026
Quick Answer
Jacksonville’s life sciences sector employs more than 122,000 people across 5,000-plus establishments at an average wage near $75,000, anchored by Mayo Clinic Florida, Baptist Health, UF Health, Ascension St. Vincent’s and HCA Florida. Active capital projects exceed $1 billion, led by Mayo’s tower expansion, carbon ion center and 602-acre campus.
Sector Profile at a Glance
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Life sciences employment (7-county region) | 122,000–127,400 | JAXUSA / JobsEQ 2025 |
| Life sciences establishments | 5,000+ | JobsEQ 2025 |
| Average annual wage | $75,030 | JobsEQ 2025 |
| Five-year sector growth | ~11% | JAXUSA |
| Healthcare job growth rate (2026) | ~4.3% annually | Industry recruiting data |
| Regional patient population | 1.9 million | JAXUSA |
| Jobs at seven largest health systems | ~35,000 | Jax Daily Record / JAX Chamber |
| Proton therapy centers | 3 (most of any U.S. city) | JAXUSA |
Research and Innovation Centers
Jacksonville’s differentiation from Tampa or Orlando is not hospital bed count; it is the density of academic research infrastructure inside a mid-sized metro.
Mayo Clinic Florida (San Pablo Road, Southside)
Mayo’s Jacksonville campus is the region’s single largest life sciences investment engine. Since 2016 the system has spent more than $1 billion on construction, doubling its footprint by 2026.
- Discovery and Innovation Building — opened August 2019 at $32.4 million; 75,000 sf housing the Life Sciences Incubator for biotech startups, a lung restoration facility and an automated stem cell manufacturing site
- Mangurian Building — opened 2018 for complex cancer, neurological and neurosurgical care
- Hospital tower expansion — $432 million program adding five floors atop the existing eight-story tower; Mayo’s 2025 update cites 166 new medical/surgical beds, with completion scheduled for late 2026 and a 428-bed hospital at build-out
- Carbon ion therapy center — the first in North America, under construction, with first treatments expected in 2028
- Integrated oncology building — permitted at $74.2 million
- Hilton at Mayo Clinic — $70 million, 252-room hotel serving destination patients
- North Campus — 210 acres added to the 392-acre medical center for a 602-acre total; the master plan envisions 7.5 million sf of clinical, research, education, housing and hotel space by 2045
- Mayo North — a 125,000 sf five-floor addition with eight operating rooms and procedural space
- Downtown presence — a Community Health Collaborative office placing Mayo research teams in the urban core
University of Florida Jacksonville graduate campus (LaVilla)
UF opened its Jacksonville graduate campus on September 9, 2026, in a renovated $4.6 million building at 801 W. Bay Street, the first phase of a $287.5 million campus on 23 acres the city conveyed in LaVilla. The project is funded by $150 million from the state, $50 million from the city and $50 million in private donations.
Programs launched in fall 2026 include a Master’s in AI in Biomedical and Health Sciences, computer science with AI and cybersecurity concentrations, engineering management with data analytics, and a professional MBA. The campus will also host the Florida Semiconductor Institute. Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate is the preferred developer for the first new building, a six-to-eight-story structure with a construction start listed for December 2026 and opening targeted for 2029.
For the life sciences sector, the LaVilla campus is a talent-pipeline and research-commercialization play: graduate-level AI and biomedical training a few blocks from UF Health Jacksonville’s 110-acre downtown medical campus, where the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville houses 450-plus faculty and 390 residents and fellows.
University of North Florida and Jacksonville University
UNF’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and JU’s health sciences programs produce nursing, nutrition and allied-health graduates; both are cited by local life sciences firms as core hiring channels.
Specialized Medical Hubs
Baptist Health (Downtown Southbank and system-wide)
Baptist Health is the region’s largest health system and second-largest private employer with roughly 12,400 to 14,250 employees, six hospitals, 1,461 beds, 12 satellite emergency departments and 200-plus points of care.
- McGehee Family Tower — a four-story, 123,000 sf emergency and patient tower at the 800 Prudential Drive flagship campus, permitted at $187.38 million (estimated ~$190 million total); 100 emergency rooms (63 adult, 37 pediatric, including three pediatric trauma rooms); phased completion by 2029; $39 million raised philanthropically
- Baptist Center for Inpatient Rehabilitation — an 18-bed unit operated by Brooks Rehabilitation, opening spring 2027
- Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center — one of seven MD Anderson partnerships nationally
Ascension St. Vincent’s
Home to Jacksonville’s leading cardiovascular program, the first NAPBC-accredited breast center in Duval County, and a Mayo Clinic cancer-care partnership at its Riverside campus.
HCA Florida Memorial Hospital
The for-profit anchor on the Southside, part of HCA’s Northeast Florida network, with ongoing capital investment covered in regional development updates alongside Baptist and Ascension.
Brooks Rehabilitation
A top-25 regional employer and one of the largest post-acute rehabilitation systems in the Southeast, now operating inside Baptist’s acute-care campus through the 2027 joint venture.
Oncology cluster
Three proton therapy centers (UF Health Proton Therapy Institute among them), Mayo’s forthcoming carbon ion facility and the Baptist MD Anderson partnership give Jacksonville a concentration of advanced radiation oncology that JAXUSA describes as unmatched in the Southeast.
Medical Technology and Health IT Anchors
Beyond providers, Jacksonville hosts a health-technology layer that rarely appears in hospital rankings:
- Availity — headquartered in Jacksonville; one of the largest health information networks in the U.S., processing payer-provider transactions nationally
- Mosai (formerly Forcura) — post-acute care workflow software
- One Call — workers’ compensation care coordination
- Optimum Healthcare IT — EHR implementation and consulting
- Medical device manufacturing — JAXUSA cites top device makers in the region, including ENT-focused operations
Employment Comparison: Where the Jobs Are
| Employer / segment | Approximate headcount | Role in ecosystem |
|---|---|---|
| Baptist Health | 12,400–14,250 | Largest system; Downtown Southbank anchor |
| Mayo Clinic Florida | Several thousand (23% staffing growth in 3 years pre-2022) | Destination medicine, research, incubator |
| Ascension St. Vincent’s | Top-25 employer | Cardiovascular, Riverside |
| UF Health Jacksonville | 3,300+ | Academic medical center, safety-net, Downtown |
| HCA Florida Memorial | Top-25 employer | For-profit acute care, Southside |
| Brooks Rehabilitation | Top-25 employer | Post-acute |
| Health IT (Availity et al.) | Not broken out | Non-clinical, high-wage |
| Total sector | 122,000–127,400 | ~20% of regional top-25 nongovernmental jobs |
Brian’s Take
By Brian French, Publisher, Florida Authority Network
When I evaluated healthcare REITs and hospital operators as a money manager, the number I cared about was not beds, it was capital being deployed per capita. On that measure Jacksonville is punching well above a metro of 1.9 million.
Three observations for real estate and business readers.
Mayo’s 602 acres is the biggest land story in Northeast Florida that nobody prices correctly. A 7.5-million-square-foot master plan with medical, residential and hotel entitlements through 2045 is effectively a private city on the Southside. Every medical office, senior housing and hospitality parcel within a few miles of San Pablo Road will be repriced as that plan executes. Investors who treat it as “just a hospital expansion” are missing the scale.
The UF campus changes the Downtown equation more than the stadium does. Stadiums generate eight game days. A graduate campus with AI-in-biomedicine and semiconductor programs generates daily foot traffic, research spinouts and tenants for lab and office space in LaVilla and Brooklyn. Pair it with UF Health’s existing Downtown campus and Mayo’s Downtown research office, and the urban core suddenly has a credible life sciences address.
The gap is wet-lab space. Mayo’s incubator is 75,000 sf and full of Mayo-affiliated ventures. There is no meaningful third-party lab inventory in Jacksonville comparable to Tampa’s or Orlando’s Lake Nona. The first developer to deliver speculative lab-flex near either UF Health or Mayo will find an ecosystem ready to absorb it. That is the opportunity this sector profile points to.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people work in healthcare and life sciences in Jacksonville?
Between 122,000 and 127,400 across the seven-county region, according to JAXUSA and JobsEQ data, with an average wage of about $75,000 and roughly 11% five-year growth.
What is Mayo Clinic building in Jacksonville?
A $432 million five-floor hospital tower expansion completing in late 2026, North America’s first carbon ion therapy center (first treatments 2028), an integrated oncology building, a Hilton hotel and phased development of a newly added 210-acre North Campus.
When did the UF Jacksonville campus open?
Graduate classes began August 20, 2026, at 801 W. Bay Street in LaVilla, with the formal ribbon-cutting on September 9, 2026. The first purpose-built campus building is slated to start construction in late 2026 and open around 2029.
What is the McGehee Family Tower?
Baptist Health’s roughly $190 million, 123,000 sf emergency and patient tower on the Downtown Southbank, with 100 emergency rooms split between adult and pediatric care, being built in phases through 2029.
Which is Jacksonville’s largest healthcare employer?
Baptist Health, with more than 12,400 employees, is the largest health system and the region’s second-largest private employer after Amazon.
Does Jacksonville have a biotech incubator?
Yes. Mayo Clinic’s Life Sciences Incubator operates inside the 75,000 sf Discovery and Innovation Building on the San Pablo Road campus, alongside stem cell manufacturing and lung restoration facilities.
Sources and Further Reading
- JAXUSA Partnership — Life Sciences industry overview: https://www.jaxusa.org/industries/life-sciences
- Earn Up / JAXUSA — Life Sciences Business Report (JobsEQ 2025 data): https://earnup.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Life-Sciences-Business-Report-1.pdf
- Mayo Clinic News Network — “Mayo Clinic invests in major hospital expansion” (February 22, 2022): https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-invests-in-major-hospital-expansion-to-enhance-patient-experience/
- Mayo Clinic News Network — “Mayo Clinic in Florida state-of-the-art hospital expansion” (April 2, 2025): https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-in-florida-state-of-the-art-hospital-expansion-to-enhance-patient-care-and-services/
- Jax Daily Record — “City issues permit for $19 million Mayo Clinic in Florida expansion” (August 28, 2025): https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/aug/28/city-issues-permit-for-19-million-mayo-clinic-in-florida-expansion/
- The Jaxson — “The Story of Mayo Clinic Jacksonville”: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/the-story-of-mayo-clinic-jacksonville-page-2/
- JAXUSA — “Mayo Clinic Florida Opens Mayo Clinic Innovation Exchange” (May 2020): https://jaxusa.org/news/mayo-clinic-florida-opens-life-sciences-incubator-for-health-care-entrepreneurs/
- Jax Daily Record — “UF celebrates opening of Jacksonville graduate campus” (September 9, 2026): https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/sep/09/uf-celebrates-opening-of-jacksonville-graduate-campus/
- The Independent Florida Alligator — “New UF graduate campus opens in Jacksonville” (September 2026): https://www.alligator.org/article/2026/09/new-jacksonville-campus
- University of Florida News — “UF selects Edgemoor as preferred developer for first Jacksonville campus building” (April 13, 2026): https://news.ufl.edu/2026/04/jacksonville-campus-building/
- University of Florida News — “UF moves forward with site for new campus in Jacksonville” (December 2024): https://news.ufl.edu/2024/12/site-for-new-campus-in-jacksonville/
- Downtown Investment Authority — “LaVilla site selected for new University of Florida Jacksonville graduate campus”: https://dia.jacksonville.gov/news/lavilla-site-selected-for-new-university-of-florida-jacksonville-graduate-campus,-semiconductor-inst
- UF Jacksonville — official campus site: https://www.jax.ufl.edu/
- Jax Daily Record — “Part I: Northeast Florida health care development update: HCA, Baptist and Ascension St. Vincent’s” (February 27, 2026): https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/feb/27/part-i-northeast-florida-health-care-development-update/
- Baptist Health — “Construction begins on McGehee Family Tower” (September 17, 2025): https://www.baptistjax.com/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/breaking-ground-baptist-health-s-new-emergency-and-patient-tower-begins-to-take-shape
- Jax Daily Record — “McGehee Family Tower is name for Baptist-Wolfson ER expansion Downtown” (September 17, 2025): https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/sep/17/mcgehee-family-tower-is-name-for-baptist-wolfson-er-expansion-downtown/
- Jax Daily Record — “Amazon tops list of the Top 25 employers in Northeast Florida” (October 16, 2023): https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2023/oct/16/amazon-tops-list-of-the-top-25-employers-in-northeast-florida/
- UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville — Career Opportunities (faculty and resident counts): https://med.jax.ufl.edu/administrative-affairs/career-opportunities/
- Downtown Investment Authority — 2025 Downtown development report summary: https://dia.jacksonville.gov/
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