Twenty years ago, USF Health was launched as a bold commitment to improving the full spectrum of health, from the environment to the community to the individual.
In 2005, university leaders reimagined what was formerly known as the Health Sciences Center, transforming it into a dynamic, interdisciplinary enterprise dedicated to changing how we understand health and improve quality of life.
Out of this vision, USF Health was born — a collaborative space where medicine, nursing, public health and later pharmacy could come together under a shared purpose — Making Life Better through research, education, and patient care.
The shift was more than branding. It was a cultural transformation built from the inside out by faculty, staff and students who lived its values every day. Together, they laid the foundation for a healthier future driven by innovation and teamwork.
Today, USF Health embodies the excellence of its faculty, staff and students who continue that mission. Through collaboration with one another, our patients and our community, we have developed a model for learning and discovery that empowers health professionals.
As USF Health celebrates 20 years, here are 20 things to know about what USF Health built together:
1. USF Health was officially launched on September 5, 2005, uniting the Morsani College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Public Health, School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, School of Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs with USF Health’s multispecialty physicians’ group. The Taneja College of Pharmacy was established as part of USF Health four years later.
The student-run Bridge Clinic serves uninsured patients in the university area
2. USF is home to the first Athletic Training program in the nation housed within a college of medicine — creating unique opportunities at the intersection of sports and health care. Receiving initial accreditation in 2003, the AT program moved from the College of Education to the Morsani College of Medicine in 2007.
3. The USF Health BRIDGE Clinic was founded in August 2007 to provide free primary care and social services to uninsured people living near USF. Over the years, the faculty-supervised clinic has expanded as it continues to bring together students from medicine, public health, physical therapy, pharmacy and social work to gain hands-on experience as they make a difference in the lives of those in need.
4. In 2008, USF submitted the official application for the creation of what would become the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy. The college admitted its first class of students in 2011, launching as Florida’s first public, comprehensive college of pharmacy in a metropolitan area.
Frank and Carol Morsani
5. A historic $20 million gift from Carol and Frank Morsani in 2011 led to the renaming of the College of Medicine as the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. At the time, this was the largest gift in USF’s history.
6. Founded in 2012, the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation is one of the largest freestanding simulation facilities in the world. The three-story facility is home to a cutting-edge, high-fidelity clinical environment with surgical skill labs, operating trauma suites and patient exam rooms.
7. The USF Health College of Public Health launched Florida’s first Genetic Counseling Graduate Program in 2017. Just two years later, the program proudly graduated its inaugural class of students. Today, its graduates represent approximately 20% of all practicing genetic counselors in the state.
8. USF Health hosted its first Interprofessional Education Day on November 16, 2018, to highlight collaboration across health care, showing the importance of teamwork and communication in reducing medical errors and improving health outcomes.
9. USF established the first state university system Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program in Florida, giving it the longest track record of preparing physical therapists in the state. The program has been consistently ranked in the Top 3 in Florida by U.S. News & World Report for nearly two decades.
USF Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation
First USF Health IPE Day, held in 2018
10. The Morsani College of Medicine’s dual MD/PhD program launched in 2018 and was recently expanded in 2024. The program, which takes approximately eight years to complete, is designed to train the next generation of physician scientists — physicians who think like researchers and researchers who embed clinical relevance in their research.
11. The Taneja family made a $10 million gift to the college of pharmacy in August 2019, which was renamed the Taneja College of Pharmacy in their honor.
12. In January 2020, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute opened in the heart of downtown Tampa. The 13-story, state-of-the-art facility was made possible because of a generous one-acre land gift from Jeff Vinik as well as significant funding from both the Florida Legislature and private donors. In 2024, the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy also moved to the new facility. Today, the building is a key anchor in Tampa’s downtown core as well as the Tampa Medical & Research District.
Jugal and Manju Taneja
Morsani College of Medicine & Heart Insitute ribbon-cutting
13. In October 2021, building on a five-decade partnership, USF and Tampa General Hospital launched University of South Florida-Tampa General Physicians (USFTGP). In August 2024, the two organizations further strengthened their integration, with TGH investing more than $160 million in USF Health to support a shared vision as the state’s leading academic medical center.
College of Nursing expansion topping-out ceremony
14. USF Health College of Nursing is on a mission to double its undergraduate nursing graduates by 2028, helping to counteract Florida’s critical nursing shortage. In June 2022, the state of Florida approved $33 million to expand the College of Nursing on the Tampa campus. This investment supports new infrastructure and cutting-edge simulation training space.
15. The USF College of Public Health is home to the first accredited Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree in the State of Florida. The college is ranked No. 1 in Florida for NIH funding, driving research that impacts health policy and practice worldwide.
16. Launched in 2023, the Mo-Bull Nurse Medical Clinic is a mobile health unit that brings care directly to underserved communities across Tampa Bay. Complete with two exam rooms, a bathroom, a freezer and a pop-up awning, the Mo-Bull clinic is staffed with two advanced practice registered nurses, a patient care coordinator, faculty preceptor and serves as a clinical training site for undergraduate nursing students.
The Morsani College of Medicine ranks as the only Tier 1 medical school in Florida for research
17. In 2025, Morsani College of Medicine ranked No. 1 in the state and the only Tier 1 medical school in Florida, according to the U.S. News & World Report Best Medical Schools: Research rankings. This places USF among the Top 16 colleges of medicine nationally.
18. The USF College of Public Health is the highest ranked in Florida and No. 27 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. As the state’s oldest college of public health, it offers 25 graduate degree program concentrations.
19. Over the past decade, the Morsani College of Medicine has seen incredible growth in research. Between 2014 and 2024, research funding from the National Institutes of Health rose by 158%, while overall research funding grew by 212%. In 2024 alone, the college and its partners secured $380 million in total research funding, including $187 million from the NIH.
20. USF Health is the largest multispecialty practice on Florida’s West Coast, with 1,000+ providers across 30+ specialties, serving more than 1 million patients annually at 144 locations across Tampa Bay.