WESLEY CHAPEL — Johns Hopkins All Children’s marked a construction milestone May 8 at its new Wesley Chapel campus, placing the final steel beam atop the 239,000-square-foot, five-story pediatric hospital.
The $300 million full-service hospital, on track to open in fall 2027, will be the fourth to open in an area that has seen explosive growth for nearly two decades.
Hundreds watched as a crane lifted two beams to the top of the building at 29999 Boyette Road. Sisters Isabella and Valentina De Jesus of Wesley Chapel, both Johns Hopkins patients who attend nearby Veterans Elementary School, served as honorary crane foremen and signaled when to raise the beams. Tours followed.
Among the dignitaries on hand were hospital president K. Alicia Schulhof, Pasco County Commissioners Ron Oakley and Seth Weightman, and state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
For families like the De Jesuses — and other children with leukemia in Pasco County — the new hospital means no more drives to St. Petersburg for care.
“It’s huge,” said Dr. Joseph Perno, the hospital’s chief administrative officer. “The families here have to travel outside of the county for just about every pediatric service except for primary care. So to be here for them, that means less time in the car, more time with family.”
Ninety-three percent of patients in Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties currently travel outside the area for pediatric specialty care, according to Johns Hopkins. Pasco’s pediatric population is projected to grow 12% between 2023 and 2032.
The hospital sits on 30 acres and will include 56 beds, a 16-room emergency center, a 12-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit, four operating rooms, four imaging rooms, clinic space, a full-service pharmacy, a sleep laboratory, a 25,000-square-foot outpatient center and dining.
Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health Wiregrass Ranch Hospital, just off State Road 56, is scheduled to open later in 2026.
The Wesley Chapel project is part of Johns Hopkins’ broader expansion, which also includes a 28,000-square-foot addition to the emergency center and surgery suites at the system’s St. Petersburg campus.