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South Bay Gets OK To Move To Riverview

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By LIZ BLEAU, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2007

SUN CITY CENTER - State officials on Friday gave South Bay Hospital permission to move out of this retirement community to a site eight miles north along Big Bend Road in Riverview.
Sun City Center residents who lobbied against the relocation were disappointed and angered. Many have said they moved to the community in southern Hillsborough County partly because of the proximity of the hospital.

In a companion move, the state Agency on Health Care Administration on Friday turned down a competing bid by St. Joseph's Hospital to build a facility in Riverview.

At a hearing in October, more than 1,000 residents of Sun City Center supported speakers who noted reasons why South Bay, owned by Hospital Corporation of America, should not move.

"I could not more be more disappointed," said Harry Kangeiser, president of the Kings Point Federation, which represents about 10,000 Sun City Center residents.

"I think the HCA corporation has made a drastic mistake for the entire community. Unfortunately, it is my gut feeling that the decision was solely based on dollars and cents, and not community service."
HCA plans to build a $216 million, 112-bed facility at the Riverview site along Big Bend Road.

At the October hearing, South Bay CEO Steve Daugherty said the hospital didn't have enough land to expand and modernize its 112-bed facility along State Road 674, Sun City Center's main thoroughfare.

In a summary of its decision, the state agency agreed opportunities to expand at the current site were limited. South Bay and state officials "are in relative agreement that expansion options to accommodate growth and increasingly upgraded medical technology is cost prohibitive at best at the current South Bay location and virtually impossible at worst," the agency wrote in its decision.

The proposed site also is more centrally located, the state concluded, making it accessible to a larger number of people.

In their application to move to Big Bend Road, South Bay officials maintained they would keep some services at its existing site, including primary care, diagnostic testing and an emergency room. They also pledged to provide shuttle bus service between the two sites.

Following through with these commitments was a stipulation of the agency's approval for the relocation.

South Bay directors suggested the bus service after Sun City Center residents said they drive golf carts, a common mode of transportation in the community, to the existing hospital.

South Bay's Daugherty on Friday said he was pleased with the decision and that the hospital would "continue our discussions with individuals and organizations in Sun City Center and the other South Shore communities to ensure our expansion plans meet the needs of the communities we serve."

Paul Wheat, president of the Sun City Center Community Association, which represents about 11,100 residents, said he was disappointed.

"Now, with the perception that hospital will be leaving, it will be almost impossible to get a replacement facility here," he said.

"The loss of the hospital here will have an effect on the morale of the present residents and certainly the biggest impact may be on our ability to sell our homes," he said. "The hospital within the community borders was one of the biggest factors for many of us moving here in the first place."

At St. Joseph's Hospital, spokeswoman Lisa Patterson said officials were "disappointed and frustrated over the agency's decision to not listen to the community" and not approve its Riverview bid.

She said St. Joseph's had not decided whether to appeal Friday's ruling.

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

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