TEMPLE TERRACE, FL(TIP): Indian American entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Kiran Patel in this northern Tampa suburb will provide free quality education to students from the area and beyond through a new state-of-the-art charter school.

The construction of Dr. Kiran C. Patel High School will be completed in the summer of 2019 and classes will begin in August. Ground for the more than 60,000-square-foot school, which will include a 11,000-square-foot gymnasium, was broken on December 13. The $20 million high school building, located on a 32-acre plot near the University of South Florida, will be funded fully by the Tampa-based philanthropist.

The groundbreaking in the waning days of the year marks the end of a hectic 15-month period for Patel and his wife, Dr. Pallavi Patel, during which they committed approximately a quarter-billion dollar for various philanthropic causes and made their second billion-dollar-plus exit from health insurance business in a decade and a half.

In September 2017, the Patels had committed a whopping $200 million — the single largest donation by an Indian American to date — to Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in Fort Lauderdale. The gift, the largest in the university’s history, will impact healthcare delivery in the United States, India and globally.

Like the NSU donation, the latest philanthropic commitment also focuses on an area that’s close to the Zambia-born Patel’s heart, education. In fact, a vast majority of Drs. Kiran & Pallavi Patel Family Foundations’ works globally — including in the United States, India, Africa and the Caribbean — have been in healthcare and education.

Noted Indian American entrepreneur and philanthropist from Tampa, Dr. Kiran Patel is the Chairman and President of Freedom Health, Inc. and Optimum Health, Inc. in Florida. He sees philanthropy as his responsibility and passion. Dr. Patel built the WellCare Management Group which he sold in 2002 to a private equity group. The Patel’s have used these proceeds to continue their generous philanthropic work in the Tampa Bay community. Recently, Dr. Patel purchased the former Clearwater Christian College property and has plans to create a college of osteopathic medicine to attract more doctors to this area. Their non-profit organization, the Kiran and Pallavi Patel Foundation for Global Understanding, funds a number of initiatives in health, education and culture. It even offers an annual scholarship to the underprivileged youth in the United States.

As longtime residents of the Carrollwood community, the Patels have been giving back to the Tampa Bay area for decades. In addition to their previous accomplishments, Dr. Patel served as an accomplished Cardiologist and his wife, Dr. Pallavi Patel specialized in Pediatrics.