Volume 25 Issue 2 January 13, 2017
Inside: Union 72 Redefines The BBQ Concept! See Neighborhood Magazine!
Co-Creator Of The Wesley Chapel Chamber Of Commerce’s Chairman’s Award-Winning WCNT-tv! The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! For the complete list of neighborhoods that receive this publication by direct mail in Wesley Chapel (zip codes 33543, 33544 & 33545), see page 50!
FHWC Ready To Unveil New Rooms, New Technology & A New Experience
By John C. Cotey Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) is virtually ready for another grand opening. Oops. Make that ready for a virtual grand opening. After drawing an estimated crowd of 8,000 people to its initial Grand Opening in 2012, FHWC is set to unveil its new $78-million, 118,000-sq.-ft. expansion to the general public via social media. FHWC marketing director Tracy Clouser says that because the hospital now has patients being treated everywhere, it isn’t possible to allow thousands to stroll through the corridors, checking out the new rooms and advances in technology. However, everyone can still attend the Grand Opening of the expansion virtually, via both YouTube and Facebook, on Monday, February 6, 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Clouser says the public will even be given the opportunity to ask questions of FHWC CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb. “We’ll be showcasing some of the areas people wouldn’t ordinarily get to see,’’ Clouser said during an interview with Neighborhood News editor Gary Nager for the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce Featured Business Segment on WCNT-tv, which hit YouTube on Jan. 6. She added that those who RSVP will get the first look at some of the expansion that is expected to even further enhance the hospital’s standing in the local (see pg 3) and medical community. FHWC, constructed in the shape of a “W” with North, Center and South wings, is doubling the size of the Center wing, which
Also Inside This Issue: News, Business & Sports Updates Five Things To Look Forward To In 2017; Avalon Park West Begins Expansion; One Lagoon Finally Under Construction With Another On The Way; Kurt Browning Addresses Criticism; Wesley Chapel Girls Soccer Scores; DICK’s Lacrosse Tourney Crowns Champs & More Local Business Features!
Pages 3-34
Neighborhood Magazine
Shen Yun Brings Chinese Dance To Florida; Our Dining Survey Results Are In & We Have Winners; Union 72 Creates A New BBQ Niche; Zammy The Dog Burns Up The Web; Plus, Neighborhood Nibbles & Business Bytes!
Pages 35-52
FHWC’s $78-million expansion should be completed by the end of the month. Drone photography by Brad Hall Studios.
now has six floors instead of the original three. A three-story connector wing, called the “Southeast Connector,” between the Center and South wings, also is nearly complete. The extra floors will allow the hospital to expand from 83 private patient rooms to 143. Emergency room space also is nearly doubling, from 18 rooms to 35. That may be the best news for area residents, as even the influx of urgent care centers in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa hasn’t stopped the FHWC emergency rooms from overflowing some days. Clouser said there was no true original timetable to expand, but the top brass with FHWC’s parent company, the Adventist Health System originally estimated there
would be a need for expansion within 5-7 years when FHWC first opened. But, the unrelenting brisk business at the hospital hastened the need for expansion to within only three years. “We have been very, very busy,’’ Clouser says. “Obviously, there has been a need in this area for quality healthcare close to home for (local) people.”
Even More Technology
The new patient rooms at FHWC are Cerner Smart Rooms, which offer better workflows for hospital personnel, with instant bedside access to real-time data for doctors, while providing better communication between patients, their providers and visitors.
Visitors will be able to see if the patient is with their doctor, resting or does not want to be disturbed before entering the room, while FHWC staff will know, for example, which of their patients have allergies or are fall risks. “It’s all right at their fingertips outside the room,’’ Clouser says, adding that the older rooms at FHWC will be retrofitted with the Cerner technology as well. The new rooms also have the Get Well Network, another technology that bridges the gap between patients and doctors and empowers patients and their caregivers to participate in their healthcare. It also helps track the care patients are receiving — like dosages of medicine or blood tests — while they may be sleeping, right down to knowing when hospital personnel are washing and sanitizing their hands. Clouser also said that some of the expansion already has been completed. A second heart catheterization lab opened in March, and a new wing with 20 additional beds in the Southeast wing opened in October. That third-floor wing will be an all-women’s wing when all of the other new rooms have opened, all expected by the end of this month or early in February. The majority of the new rooms and technologies will be on the new fifth and sixth floors. Clouser also said that, for now, the fourth floor will remain as shell space, until future growth dictates adding 24 more patient rooms. Until then, the fourth floor will feature conference and classrooms that will host many of the free community health and wellness programs FHWC currently hosts at See “FHWC Expansion” on page 8.
Dade City Chamber Celebrating 20 Years Of Kumquats January 28! Dade City’s annual Kumquat Festival will be held on Saturday, January 28, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. This year is the milestone 20th anniversary of the event, which celebrates the kumquat, “a unique and funky little fruit,” as described by John Moors, executive director of the event’s host, the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce. Kumquats are small citrus fruits grown near Dade City, and the annual festival also is an opportunity to show off the city’s historic downtown district’s eclectic restaurants and new places to shop, such as Flint Creek Outfitters, a new, high-end sporting goods and camping gear store. This year’s festival will include 440 vendors and 40 sponsors, with a car and truck show, farmers market, arts & crafts, children’s activities and all kinds of kumquat pies and other products. “It’s an authentic, old-Florida style festival,” says Moors, “including down-home, local entertainment on the historic courthouse steps all day.” He estimates about 35,000 people attend
each year, but exact numbers are unknown because the event is not ticketed and there’s no gate. “It’s certainly a milestone that this is our 20th year,” says Moors. “It’s marvelous that, for 20 years, the community has pulled together to put on this completely volunteer-run event. Again this year, our 200 volunteers are working extremely hard to make it a really enjoyable day.” Admission and parking are free, and free transportation also is provided from multiple satellite parking lots. For more info, see pg. 29 or visit KumquatFestival.org. — Celeste McLaughlin