TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hospital Plan Cleared

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: November 12, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Work could begin early next year on Wesley Chapel's first hospital after a state judge resolved a year-old challenge by competitors of Adventists Health System and University Community Health.

The ruling, issued Oct. 28 by Administrative Law Judge David Maloney in Tallahassee, was a victory for Adventist and UCH, which won a state license last year to build a joint-venture hospital in central Pasco County.

The Wesley Chapel Medical Center will go up on 51 acres on the east side of 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. Adventist bought the land in 2003 for $5.2 million.

Orlando-based Adventist owns Florida Hospital Zephyrhills. UCH operates a large campus near the University of South Florida in Hillsborough County.

The joint project will be a $121 million facility with 80 beds that will provide a wide range of medical services, from emergency care to rehabilitation and outpatient services, hospital officials said Tuesday.

"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.

If development approvals move along smoothly, construction could start in 2009, UCH spokeswoman Phoebe Ochman said.

UCH is nearing completion of a smaller acute-care facility off U.S. 41 in central Pasco's Connerton development.

The Adventist-UCH state permit was challenged by Pinellas County-based Baycare Health System and Community Hospital of New Port Richey.

Baycare proposed building a competing 130-bed, $308 million facility along the Bruce B. Downs corridor in Wesley Chapel. Baycare's project was proposed as a joint operation with the University of South Florida to create a teaching hospital.

Baycare won approval last month for a helicopter landing pad in part of Seven Oaks zoned for a medical complex. It was unclear Tuesday how the Adventist-UCH decision will affect those plans.

"We're still committed to that community," Baycare spokeswoman Amy Lovett said.

Lovett said Baycare plans to ask for a delay in enforcing Maloney's ruling to give Baycare a chance to consider its options in Wesley Chapel.

"We were surprised by this ruling," Lovett said. "We're still trying to determine what the next steps will be."

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

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT