Punta Gorda is one step closer to having a hospital within city limits again after nearly two years without one. The Punta Gorda Board of Zoning Appeals has recommended approval of parking variances needed for AdventHealth's planned hospital campus off Jones Loop Road, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for a project that aims to restore acute care to a community that lost its only hospital during the 2024 hurricane season.
As reported by WINK News, project representatives now expect groundbreaking on the 17.46-acre site in November. The property sits at 26072 Glasgow Avenue, near the intersection of Jones Loop Road and Mac Ever Street, adjacent to Interstate 75 and U.S. 41, according to filings before the City of Punta Gorda Board of Zoning Appeals. The board's recommendation addressed the gap between the city's standard parking rules — which call for 1.2 spaces per bed for hospitals and 1 space per 400 square feet for medical offices, with excess spots placed on grass or sod — and AdventHealth's request to pave parking up to 6 spaces per bed for the hospital and 1 space per 150 square feet for the emergency department and office building, citing safety and sustainability concerns.
A City Without a Hospital Since 2024
ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda closed permanently following extensive flooding from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, per WINK News' reporting. The hospital had served the community since 1947, when it opened as the 12-bed Charlotte Hospital before eventually growing into a 208-bed full-service facility and becoming the first in Charlotte County to offer robotic surgery, according to Local Life Homes. The storm surge left the historic downtown building beyond repair, according to the same account, ending nearly 80 years of having a hospital within city limits.
Since the closure, Punta Gorda residents needing emergency hospital care have had to cross the Peace River to Port Charlotte, a 10 to 15 minute drive to facilities like HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital and AdventHealth Port Charlotte, per The Helgemo Team, with travel times prone to lengthen during peak traffic across the river bridges. Fawcett Hospital, for its part, completed a $60 million expansion in May 2024 that added 12 intensive care unit beds and earned the facility national Top 100 recognition for surgical and orthopedic care, the real estate site notes.
How AdventHealth Landed in Charlotte County
AdventHealth's presence in the area traces back to its $265 million acquisition of the ShorePoint Health System from Community Health Systems, a deal that closed March 1, 2025 and included ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte, the shuttered Punta Gorda hospital land, physician clinics, and an outpatient emergency department in Cape Coral, according to a release distributed via PR Newswire. Rather than rebuild on the flood-damaged downtown site, the health system chose the Jones Loop Road location for a modern, phased campus, Local Life Homes reports. AdventHealth announced plans for the Punta Gorda campus in September 2025, according to WINK News.
The project will unfold in phases. The first includes a 12-bed off-site emergency department that could expand to 24 beds, per WINK News' reporting, which was initially targeted to open in the third quarter of 2027. The full build-out calls for an 80-bed hospital alongside a two-story, 30,000-square-foot medical office building. Statewide, AdventHealth already operates 28 freestanding emergency departments across Florida, and system representatives have said building a standalone ER typically costs around $25 million, according to Becker's Hospital Review.
Why the Timeline Matters for an Aging County
Charlotte County ranks among the oldest in the country by share of residents 65 and older. The county records more than 5,400 emergency room visits annually tied to fall injuries among seniors 65 and older, the assessment found. That backdrop underscores why restoring timely emergency access in Punta Gorda carries weight beyond a single construction project.
AdventHealth is also building elsewhere in the region. In November 2025, the health system unveiled plans for a multi-phase medical campus in North Port featuring a 24-bed freestanding ER and an eventual 5-story, 120-bed hospital, according to Healthcare Design, with that campus envisioned as an eventual replacement for AdventHealth Port Charlotte. For now, project representatives told WINK News that groundbreaking on the Punta Gorda site is expected in November, though they cautioned that construction materials could still affect that schedule.
