An ambulatory surgery center and 4 other high-tech outpatient healthcare facilities are part of a proposed "Medical City" that would be developed near Miami International Airport in an attempt to boost medical tourism to South Florida.

With an estimated price tag of about $240 million, the proposed medical development is still in the conceptual stages. Florida International University would be involved in the development of 5 outpatient centers focusing on ambulatory surgery, primary care, women's health, imaging and diagnostics and sports medicine and rehabilitation. The university's medical school partners, such as Jackson Health System, Baptist Health South Florida and Mount Sinai Medical Center, would provide the care.

The benefits of building the outpatient facilities at the airport's entrance are 2-fold, explains Fernando Valverde, MD, the university's associate dean for community and clinical affairs. On the one hand, it would create a centralized and easily accessible healthcare destination for patients from around South Florida. It would also help establish the city as an international medical destination. "We're trying to transform the way medical care is provided to the Latin American and international market," says Dr. Valverde.

The Medical City would be part of a larger "Airport City" project proposed by construction firm Odebrecht.

Irene Tsikitas