LMU Expands Health Sciences Education with Opening of Orange Park Campus
Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Set for March 23, 2026
Orange Park, FL (03/20/2026) — Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) will host the grand opening of its Orange Park health sciences campus this spring, marking a major milestone in the university's expansion of medical and veterinary education in Florida. The campus is home to the LMU-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine (LMU-DCOM) and the LMU-College of Veterinary Medicine at Orange Park (LMU-OPCVM), which will welcome their inaugural cohorts in 2026.
Situated on 12 acres and encompassing approximately 130,000 square feet across two adjacent buildings, the Orange Park campus reflects a substantial investment in Northeast Florida. The facility is designed to support innovative, clinically focused education and to strengthen the regional health care workforce.
"The Orange Park campus represents a significant step forward for Lincoln Memorial University and for the future of health care education in Florida," said LMU President Dr. Jason McConnell. "This expansion reflects who we are as a university. We are committed to preparing compassionate, highly trained physicians and veterinarians, and we are intentional about placing them in communities where they can make the greatest difference. Bringing human and veterinary medicine together on one campus reinforces the importance of a One Health perspective in how we educate and serve. Orange Park allows us to extend that commitment into Florida in a meaningful and lasting way."
The Orange Park location establishes LMU-DCOM as the first four-year medical school in the greater Jacksonville area. The program will deliver the same comprehensive academic and clinical curriculum offered at LMU-DCOM's established campuses in Harrogate and Knoxville, Tennessee, maintaining a strong emphasis on primary care, service and community-based training. The expansion helps address persistent physician shortages in Florida, particularly in rural and underserved communities.
"The launch of LMU-DCOM in Orange Park represents an important step in strengthening the physician pipeline in this region," said Dr. James Toldi, campus dean for LMU-DCOM at Orange Park. "By building strong partnerships with local physicians and health systems, we are creating meaningful clinical training opportunities and preparing graduates who are ready to meet the evolving health care needs of Northeast Florida."
Since its founding in 2007, LMU-DCOM has awarded nearly 3,000 Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degrees, building a national network of alumni practicing across a wide range of specialties. A majority serve in primary care, and many practice in underserved communities.
The Orange Park campus further advances LMU's leadership in veterinary medical education. The comprehensive three-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at LMU-OPCVM is designed to accelerate career readiness through early and continuous clinical experience, collaborative team-based learning and a distributive clinical model that integrates students into partner practices and community organizations throughout the region.
"The opening of LMU-OPCVM marks a transformative moment for veterinary education in Florida," said Dr. Kim Carney, dean of LMU-OPCVM. "We are building a program that prepares clinically skilled, deeply compassionate veterinarians who are responsive to the evolving needs of animal health and who, through a One Health perspective, are ready to lead at the intersection of animal, human and environmental health to strengthen the communities we serve."
Through strategic partnerships with organizations such as the Jacksonville Humane Society and Clay County Animal Services, LMU-OPCVM integrates students into authentic, community-based learning environments while strengthening animal health resources across the region.
LMU will commemorate the milestone with a formal grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, March 23, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. on the Orange Park campus. The ceremony is by invitation only, and members of the media are invited to attend.
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