Tampa Bay's First Proton Therapy Center Opens at Moffitt's Speros Campus in Land O' Lakes

Pasco County families facing a cancer diagnosis will no longer have to drive to Orlando or Jacksonville for one of the most advanced radiation treatments available. Moffitt Cancer Center has opened its sprawling new Speros FL campus in Land O' Lakes, and the site is now home to what officials describe as the Tampa Bay region's first proton therapy center.

The campus's first building — the 120,000-square-foot Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center at 16370 Wilton Way — was formally introduced at a Jan. 9 ribbon-cutting attended by an estimated 500 people, according to local reports. Clinicians began seeing patients there later in January, and the attached Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Proton Therapy Center is expected to open in the coming months, with reports pointing to a mid-2026 debut.

For local residents, the significance is simple: a treatment that until now required a long, exhausting round trip out of the area is being built minutes from home, on a 775-acre site off Wilton Way.

What proton therapy is — and why it matters

Proton therapy is a highly targeted form of radiation. Instead of the conventional X-ray beams used in standard radiation, it uses proton beams that can be tuned to deposit most of their energy directly at the tumor while sparing more of the surrounding healthy tissue. That precision can matter most for tumors located near sensitive organs and for pediatric patients.

According to local media reports and Moffitt's own announcements, the Schulze center will house one of only three proton radiation machines in Florida. The technology at the heart of it is anchored by a 55-ton cyclotron that was lifted into the facility's shielded vault last spring — a milestone Moffitt marked in April 2025.

A $15 million gift behind the proton center

The proton center is named for a major donor. The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation — tied to the founder of Best Buy — contributed a $15 million investment toward the facility. At the grand opening, Schulze's daughter Debra spoke on his behalf, describing the center as a place where clinicians, researchers and patients would come together in the pursuit of healing, according to reporting on the event.

The name "Speros" comes from a Greek word meaning "hope," a point Moffitt leaders returned to repeatedly during the opening. Founder H. Lee Moffitt, now 84 and the former Speaker of the Florida House, attended the ceremony, which also drew Florida Secretary of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, State Sen. Danny Burgess, State Rep. Kevin Steele and all five Pasco County commissioners.

A new medical and jobs hub for Pasco

The outpatient center and proton facility are just the beginning of the campus. Moffitt has said a research and innovation center is also on the way, part of a build-out planned to eventually include well over a hundred buildings on the site near the Angeline community.

The long-term economic promise is substantial. Moffitt projects the broader Speros development will generate the following over the next decade:

Speakers at the opening framed the campus as a chance to reshape how far cancer patients across the region have to travel for cutting-edge care. Commissioner Simpson noted that patients could fly into Tampa International Airport from around the world and reach the site within roughly half an hour, according to reporting from the event.

For now, the practical takeaway for Pasco residents is that the first pieces of that vision are open and operating. As Moffitt marks its 40th anniversary in 2026, its newest and largest campus has planted itself firmly in Land O' Lakes — with a proton center that could soon put a nationally significant cancer treatment within reach of families who once had to leave the region to get it.

For more on Moffitt's Speros campus and the proton center, visit the official Moffitt website. Stay with the Pasco County Community Website for continuing local coverage, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Have a connection to Moffitt or thoughts on what this means for Pasco? Join the conversation in our Community Forum, and read more healthcare stories and local development coverage.