LMU Expands Health Sciences Education with Opening of Orange Park Campus

Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Set for March 23, 2026

ORANGE PARK, Fla., March 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.

About Lincoln Memorial University
Lincoln Memorial University is a values-based learning community dedicated to providing educational experiences in liberal arts and professional studies. The main campus is in Harrogate, Tennessee. For more information about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at LMU, contact the Office of Admissions at 423-869-6280 or email at [email protected].

About Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
The DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine is located on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, at LMU-Knoxville in Knoxville, Tennessee, and at LMU-DCOM in Orange Park, Florida. LMU-DCOM is an integral part of LMU's values-based learning community and is dedicated to preparing the next generation of osteopathic physicians to provide health care in the often-underserved region of Appalachia and beyond. For more information about LMU-DCOM, call 1.800.325.0900, ext. 7082, email [email protected], or visit us online at http://med.LMUnet.edu.

About Lincoln Memorial University-College of Veterinary Medicine at Orange Park
The LMU-College of Veterinary Medicine at Orange Park (LMU-OPCVM), located in Orange Park, Florida, extends LMU's mission to provide educational experiences in the liberal arts and professional studies as part of LMU's growing network of medical and health sciences programs. LMU-OPCVM is committed to providing real-world, community-based veterinary education in a collaborative learning environment. LMU-OPCVM has received the Letter of Reasonable Assurance from the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA-COE), a pre-accreditation step allowing students to be accepted. For more information, visit OPVetMed.lmunet.edu or call 1.800.325.0900.

Media Contact:
Rachel Worley, Director of Communications
Phone: 423.869.2013
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Lincoln Memorial University