UCF Receives $10 Million Donation for New College of Nursing Building
ORLANDO (FLV) – A $10 million donation to support the University of Central Florida College of Nursing’s new building was announced by leaders from Dr. Phillips Charities and UCF. They say it will help graduate more nurses and “combat the nation’s critical nursing shortage.”
The College of Nursing’s new building is 90,000-square-feet at the 50-acre, state-of-the-art Academic Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona, already home to the UCF College of Medicine and the UCF Lake Nona Medical Center.
“Our mission is to give with purpose, and the purpose could not be more clear here — nurses save lives and our community has a great need for more talented nurses,” said Kenneth D. Robinson, president and CEO for Dr. Phillips, Inc. and The Dr. P. Phillips Foundation. “Dr. Phillips Charities is excited to make this investment in UCF to build a stronger educational ecosystem, a pipeline that will provide nursing talent to our region for generations to come.”
The Florida Legislature previously allocated $29 million toward the approximately $60 million building during the 2022 legislative session. The new building is anticipated to open during the 2025-2026 academic year. The $10 million donation will accelerate a campaign to raise the $30 million needed for the completion of the building.
The Florida Hospital Association estimates that an additional 2,300 registered nurses are needed to enter the workforce each year to address the projected state shortage of 37,400 RNs by 2035, based on a FHA 2021 analysis.
Once the new building is complete, the college expects to increase enrollment for new nurses and future nurse educators, grow the number of existing UCF faculty, and ultimately graduate an additional 150 new nurses annually to enter the healthcare industry — primarily in Florida.
“As a leader in nursing education, no other university is better equipped to be a part of the solution to the nursing shortage, and the many other healthcare challenges we face today and will face in the future,” said Mary Lou Sole, dean of the College of Nursing. “Today we are so lucky to have an incredible community leader who is helping to accelerate our efforts, Dr. Phillips Charities.”
