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Hospital Plans Under Review

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: November 19, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Less than a month after a state judge affirmed their permit, the developers of Wesley Chapel's first hospital have submitted the construction plans for county review.

The plans will go before the Development Review Committee, a group made up of Pasco County Administrator John Gallagher and his lieutenants, at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City.

Three weeks ago, Adventist Health System and University Community Health prevailed in an 18-month legal challenge to a 2007 state permit that will let them develop a joint medical facility on 52 acres in south-central Pasco.

The plans under review show designs for a three-building complex with a three-story hospital bookended by two smaller office buildings. The complex will be linked to the nearby Shops at Wiregrass mall by an internal road.

The first phase of construction includes building the first of twin 90,000-square-foot office buildings on 15 acres and the northern side of a ring-road that will eventually circle the complex.

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

On Oct. 28, Administrative Law Judge David Maloney ruled in favor of Adventist and UCH after competitors challenged the certificate of need issued by the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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