The facility is designed to support innovative, clinically focused education and to strengthen the regional health care workforce. | Photo Credit: LMU
What You Need to Know
- Lincoln Memorial University hosted a grand opening for its Orange Park, Fla., health sciences campus, on March 23.
- The 12-acre site spans about 130,000 square feet across two buildings and will house osteopathic medicine and veterinary medicine programs.
- LMU says the Orange Park location positions LMU-DCOM as the first four-year medical school in the greater Jacksonville area.
- The campus is slated to open in fall 2026 in a newly renovated 85,000-square-foot facility for a class of 100.
Learn More
ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) has expanded its health sciences footprint in Northeast Florida with an Orange Park campus that will house osteopathic medicine and veterinary medicine programs. The campus — which spans approximately 130,000 square feet across two buildings on 12 acres — is designed for interprofessional, clinically focused training, with inaugural cohorts expected to begin this fall. The university hosted a formal grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 23.
In an announcement, LMU President Dr. Jason McConnell framed the expansion as a milestone for health education in the state. “The Orange Park campus represents a significant step forward,” according to an announcement from PR Newswire.
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) and is intended to strengthen the regional health care workforce. LMU also positions the Orange Park site as a regional medical education milestone. The location establishes LMU-DCOM as “the first four-year medical school in the greater Jacksonville area,” and that the program will mirror LMU-DCOM curricula offered in Harrogate and Knoxville, Tenn.
LMU states that DCOM at LMU-Orange Park will offer the same four-year, full-time academic and clinical program as the Harrogate and Knoxville campuses, and that the new campus is expected to serve a class of 100. The facility is designed to support innovative, clinically focused education and to strengthen the regional health care workforce.
In a statement, the institution also highlighted the “One Health” approach that brings human and veterinary medicine together on one campus. “Bringing human and veterinary medicine together… reinforces the importance of a One Health perspective,” according to an announcement from PR Newswire.
For LMU-DCOM, Dr. James Toldi, Campus Dean for the Orange Park site, said the new campus is intended to support clinical training capacity. “We are creating meaningful clinical training opportunities,” he said in a statement.
On the veterinary side, the LMU-OPCVM Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program is structured as a three-year program emphasizing early clinical experience and a distributive clinical model. The institution also cited planned partnerships, including with the Jacksonville Humane Society and Clay County Animal Services, to place students in community-based learning environments.
“Bringing human and veterinary medicine together on one campus reinforces the importance of a One Health perspective in how we educate and serve,” McConnell said. “Orange Park allows us to extend that commitment into Florida in a meaningful and lasting way.”
This article is based on information published by Lincoln Memorial University via PR Newswire on March 4, 2026, and on LMU’s DCOM at Orange Park program page.