Dr. Kiran Patel’s philanthropic endeavors surpass half a billion dollars with Orlando medical school

Florida physician-entrepreneur Dr. Kiran Patel expects to spend over $1 billion in philanthropy as Patel universities in the US, India, and Zambia are underway.

Dr. Kiran C. Patel envisions a world where healthcare and education transcend borders, empowering communities globally. Over the past two decades, the cardiologist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, along with his wife Pallavi, have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to various causes worldwide, primarily focusing on healthcare-related initiatives in the United States, India, and Zambia.

In the last seven years alone, their philanthropic endeavors have amounted to commitments exceeding half a billion dollars, and with a slew of projects in progress, this figure is set to surpass $1 billion.

Patel, who has built more billion-dollar companies across various sectors than any other Indian American, is widely recognized as one of the best-known and most impactful philanthropists within the community.

His latest venture, the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine (OCOM), was inaugurated on March 9th. At the event, Patel announced his family’s newest initiative: the establishment of Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel Global University — a groundbreaking institution aimed at bridging gaps in healthcare by providing access to high-quality medical education across three continents, North America, Africa and Asia.

Speaking to the American Bazaar after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Patel, for the first time, offered details about his vision for the Patel Global University, emphasizing the importance of affordability and accessibility.

RELATED: New medical school funded by Indian American Dr. Kiran Patel opens in Orlando (March 11, 2024)

The recently inaugurated OCOM and its parent institution, Orlando Health Science University, will form the cornerstone of the Patel Global University. Plans also include the establishment of two universities in India and Zambia, with degrees conferred by the US-based university.

With a portfolio that already includes three medical schools in Florida, Patel’s goal is to address healthcare disparities and serve diverse communities worldwide, especially in Zambia and India, both nations with acute healthcare challenges. The physician entrepreneur and philanthropist stated that work on universities in Zambia and India is well underway, with land already secured in both countries.

Patel University will collaborate with accrediting bodies in the United States to ensure global recognition of degrees. By offering a US degree and education at a fraction of the cost, Patel University aims to cultivate a new generation of global leaders in healthcare and academia. This initiative will foster intellectual capital and human resources vital for addressing the world’s pressing healthcare challenges, Patel explained.

READ: NSU opens Tampa Bay campus built with mega donation from Indian American Dr. Kiran Patel (September 27, 2019)

Another significant advantage of obtaining US accreditation and providing American degrees is that the university can bypass bureaucratic barriers present in other countries.

“The fact that there is Patel University in Zambia, Patel University in India, and Patel University in the United States, we will ensure that we can have degrees that can be recognized in each continent,” he said. “I think the way I operate the local bureaucracy will not impact me because I’m working with the accrediting body in the United States. So, whether I am in India or Zambia, the degrees will be given by an American college or American university.”

Dr. Patel is excited about the possibility of seamless rotation between India, Zambia, and the United States. He plans to utilize innovative approaches like telemedicine to bridge geographical divides, allowing lectures to be transmitted live to students in different countries simultaneously.

Watch Aziz Haniffa’s interview with Dr. Kiran Patel in the DesiMax Trailblazers series

“[We] may be using telemedicine so that we can have a lecture here that is live transmitted on two continents… simultaneously,” he said. “So, the students may have to either adjust on time to be [able to attend classes live] or they may have to have a recorded session that they can read and study in their own convenience.”

Dr. Patel, who funds three medical schools in Florida, asserts that he produces more doctors than any single institution. “As an individual or as an institution, nobody can claim to produce more doctors than what we have done,” he says.

READ: Dr. Kiran Patel: For philanthropy to be successful, it has to be impactful, replicable, scalable and sustainable (January 27, 2019)

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine coincided with Dr. Patel’s 75th birthday, adding a poignant layer of symbolism to the occasion. Dr. Patel said he “wanted to do it on my birthday as a gift from me to society.”

At the event, a statue of Patel and his wife, Pallavi, was unveiled. While Patel knew that a statue was being made, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that it would be unveiled at the event. “It was a surprise, partly for me. I didn’t expect it to happen so soon,” he remarked.

Patel was born in Kabwe, which is now part of Zambia, to Gujarati parents. As a teenager, he traveled to India to pursue his medical studies in Ahmadabad. It was there that he crossed paths with his future wife, Pallavi, also a medical student at the time. The couple came to the United States in 1976, four years after their marriage, to pursue postgraduate training in internal medicine at the New Jersey College of Medicine & Dentistry’s Jersey City Medical Center.

READ: Indian Americans Kiran and Pallavi Patel pledge $200 million to Florida’s NSU (September 25, 2017)

They moved to Tampa in 1980 for medical practice and, within two years, they ventured into entrepreneurship by founding a company focused on physician practice ownership and management.

Over the next four decades, Patel’s entrepreneurial acumen led him to establish multiple billion-dollar companies across various sectors, including healthcare and hospitality. Notable among these were WellCare in 2002 and America’s 1st Choice in April of last year, from which he eventually exited.

In September 2017, the Patels made history by pledging over $200 million to Nova Southeastern University in Florida. This marked the largest single donation ever made by an Indian American individual or family in the United States up to that point.

As part of the donation, Nova’s School of Health Sciences was renamed as Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences and, two years later, launched NSU’s Tampa Bay Regional Campus in Clearwater, FL.

It has always been a dream and a goal for Zambia-born Patel to contribute to the three countries he refers to as his Karma bhoomi (United States), Janma bhoomi (Zambia), and Mathru bhoomi (India). Now, with the establishment of Patel University, that dream is about to be realized.

“I have had the privilege to work and contribute to my Karma bhoomi, which is the United States,” he told the American Bazaar in an interview in 2019. “So that’s where I did all the action. Janma bhoomi, which is Zambia, where I was born. Mathru bhoomi is India, which is our motherland. I have been able to work and to create an impact on three continents where I have been tied to from my birth and spent all this time.”

RELATED: Dr. Kiran Patel’s next philanthropic mission: getting bang for his $200 million (January 12, 2018)

In the interview after the OCOM inauguration, Patel shared his philosophy on philanthropy, explaining why he is driven to act swiftly. With his philanthropic commitments expected to surpass a billion dollars in his lifetime, Patel emphasized, “I myself am a believer in doing things while I’m alive. There’s no point in waiting until I’m gone. I won’t know about it. I might as well do what I want to do while I’m alive. And that’s what I have been doing.”

(Aziz Haniffa, a former Executive Editor of India Abroad, is the co-founder of DesiMax.)

READ MORE:

Florida’s Nova Southeastern University names its medical school after Dr. Kiran Patel (September 25, 2017)

New elite Dr. Kiran C. Patel High School in Florida to offer tuition-free education (December 25, 2018)

Ground broke for new $20 million charter school named after Indian American Dr. Kiran C. Patel (December 14, 2018)

Indian American Dr. Kiran Patel crowns Lexi Thompson, winner of ShopRite LPGA Classic (June 10, 2019)

Indian American Dr. Kiran Patel’s Seaview Golf Club hosting 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic (June 07, 2019)

Philanthropist Dr. Kiran Patel, International Monteary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath among four Indian American recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (January 23, 2019)