A $200 million philanthropic commitment made by cardiologist Dr. Kiran Patel and his wife, pediatrician Dr. Pallavi Patel was the largest in the Nova Southeastern University history.
A $200 million philanthropic commitment made by cardiologist Dr. Kiran Patel and his wife, pediatrician Dr. Pallavi Patel was the largest in Nova Southeastern University history.
TAMPA BAY, Flor. (Diya TV) – A $200 million philanthropic commitment made by cardiologist Dr. Kiran Patel and his wife, pediatrician Dr. Pallavi Patel was the largest in Nova Southeastern University history.
The contribution will see $50 million in scholarships as well as building a Tampa Bay Regional Campus on the former site of Clearwater Christian College. The Patel Family Foundation gave the university the $50 million donation while an additional $150 million was given in a real estate investment that will be used to open a 27-acre campus in Clearwater, expanding NSU’s Tampa operations to 325,000 square feet from 90,000 square feet. Parts of the $150 million will be used to develop and construct accommodation properties such as the more here you can see.
“Its impact can never be overstated,” NSU President George Hanbury said in a news conference. Hanbury says the expanded footprint allows “literally all of South Florida – east coast and west coast – to experience what their philanthropic gift can do.”
The proposed campus will offer occupational therapy, physical therapy and audiology, as well as serve as the second campus for the osteopathic medicine program, an alternate medical degree that is similar to a medical doctorate program but with a focus on integrated health and manipulative techniques like massage.
The Clearwater campus is expected to open in 2019, a deadline that Kiran Patel called “amazingly aggressive.” That year, NSU expects to graduate 380 doctors of osteopathy, more doctors than any school in Florida.
Nova Southeastern University is a private nonprofit university with about 23,000 students. The school intends adding a traditional M.D. program next year, along with a new teaching hospital that will replace Plantation General Hospital. Hanbury says the expansion could push the total number of student doctors graduating to 600 each year.
Patel purchased the college in December and planned to open his own medical school, but Hanbury persuaded him to partner with the university instead in what Patel called “the smartest and wisest decision.”
“We firmly believe the best gift anyone can give anyone is education,” Kiran Patel said.
NSU named two colleges after the couple.The osteopathic program was named after Dr. Kiran Patel, making him the first person of Indian descent to have a U.S. medical school named after him. The college of health sciences was named after Dr. Pallavi Patel.
The scholarships benefit students at campuses in Miramar, Miami, Palm Beach Gardens, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Orlando and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Robert Haugh, a Bay Area based journalist who has been covering news, elections, arts & entertainment, professional sports, community events and crime for 18 years.
