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Judge Denies Challenge To Wesley Chapel Hospital Plan

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2008

The construction of Central Pasco County's first hospital was cleared to proceed recently after the developers prevailed in a court challenge from competitors.

The ruling, issued Oct. 28 by Administrative Law Judge David Maloney in Tallahassee, was a victory for Adventist Health System and University Community Health, which won a state license last year to build a joint-venture hospital in Wesley Chapel.

Pinellas County-based Baycare Inc. challenged that license, claiming it had a better plan for the area. Baycare proposed building a 130-bed, $308 million facility also in the Bruce B. Downs corridor of Wesley Chapel.

The new Wesley Chapel Medical Center will go up on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, about a mile north of State Road 56. The property was part of the Porter family's 5,000-acre Wiregrass Ranch.

The $121 million facility will have 80 beds and provide a wide range of medical services, from emergency care to rehabilitation and outpatient services, hospital officials said today.

"This ruling is another step in the right direction for the realization of a new hospital in Wesley Chapel," Mike Schulz, president of Adventist's Florida region, said in a statement.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

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