UF Health broke ground on Thursday for its new Florida Recovery Center campus that will replace its current facility.

The 47,676-square-foot campus will include three buildings and encompass nearly six acres just off NW 39th Avenue near UF Health Springhill and Haven Hospice. The new campus will replace the current facility near Williston Road on 13th Street in southwest Gainesville.  Construction is expected to be completed by fall of 2025.

The ceremony for the future location coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month and will expand and upgrade its current facility so UF Health can care for more patients struggling with addiction.

“We have one of the nation’s most highly recognized and distinguished programs to advance scientific discovery that leads to new treatment advances in caring for those suffering from addiction or substance use disorders,” said Dr. Steve Motew, FACS president and system CEO of the UF Health clinical enterprise, in a press release. “Now, with our latest plans for a new Florida Recovery Center campus, we will soon have facilities that match the clinical excellence offered by our nationally renowned UF addiction medicine specialists.” 

The new facility will expand patient beds to 138 and will include two three-story residential buildings and one single-story commons building. The campus will feature an outdoor recreation area, pickleball court, gym and pool. The existing 18,700-square-foot administrative building will be renovated into house offices and services for lectures, group and individual therapy, addiction evaluations and outpatient care.

“Addiction can effect anyone from any walk of life,” said Traci d’Auguste, chief operating officer of UF Health, in the press release. “Since the UF Health Florida Recovery Center was founded in 1999, the University of Florida has shown they understand the complexities of the disease of addiction. This is why patients come here from all over the country, knowing that our UF Health physicians and researchers are leading experts in the field of addiction treatment.”

Newsweek magazine ranked the UF Health addiction treatment center No. 1 in Florida and No. 6 nationwide.