Hospital Plan Cleared

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."