Brooksville Regional puts on a free health fair and feast on the land that will one day hold a top-of-the-line hospital.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published April 8, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - Sharon Mears has mostly positive things to say about Brooksville Regional Hospital.
"They saved me," said Mears, a 54-year-old Brooksville resident who has asthma. "No insurance. They helped me."
But when it comes to the outdated hospital facilities, she joins the chorus of those who are grateful that the fighting over where to place a new Brooksville Regional has ended.
Mears joined hundreds of people Monday at the site of the hospital's new home - at State Road 50 and Lykes Dublin Road, about 3 miles west of its current location - for a celebration of things to come.
"I'm glad that they're building a new hospital," Mears said. "We need it real bad. Especially my mom. She's got a heart condition."
Wearing a baseball-style jersey with the hospital logo on the front, a "1" on the back, hospital executive director Tom Barb likened the march toward the new facility to a baseball game.
"This is the second inning of a nine-inning game to get the hospital built," Barb said of the free health fair and barbecue sponsored by the hospital and its parent company, Health Management Associates of Naples.
The groundbreaking will occur in a few months, he said, and the grand opening will probably be in mid 2006. Architects are putting the final touches on the design, and the company is working to conclude its purchase of the land.
"It's an exciting time, really," Barb said, acknowledging that the company had averted a lengthy legal battle when competitor Oak Hill Hospital decided to drop its challenge of the location late last year. "It's a long time coming for a lot of people."
Among them is Debbie Daniel, the hospital controller who helped the company move from bankruptcy in the 1990s to viability.
"There are a lot of dedicated employees who have persevered through some bad times," Daniel said while corporate executives gave speeches under a nearby tent. "It's real exciting for the employees and the community to reach this point."
She said she never doubted that the new hospital ultimately would come to fruition, despite heated debates about the move before county commissioners in 2001 and before state regulators during 2002.
Oak Hill officials led the opposition, saying the chosen site would infringe on their service area. Conceding that the existing Brooksville Regional needed to be replaced, Oak Hill officials pushed HMA to move east of the city rather than west.
"Most of the staff and the people who have persevered through the bad times always knew Brooksville was a winner and this would become a reality," Daniel said. "It's really awesome."
Commissioners, who had a say because the county owns Brooksville Regional and leases it to HMA, said they were pleased to see the community finally get what it needs in health care. Commission Chairwoman Betty Whitehouse noted that in addition to the hospital, HMA provided a new ambulance and a clinic for eastern Hernando, as well as about $500,000 a year more in its lease fee and support for the county's indigent care program.
"I think it's a win-win for the community," said Commissioner Nancy Robinson, who tried several times unsuccessfully to broker an end to the territorial feuding between Brooksville Regional and Oak Hill executives. "This (new hospital) is what Hernando County deserves, needs and will get."
HMA president Joe Vumbacco played down the past disagreements and chose instead to speak about the importance of bringing a state-of-the-art hospital to Hernando County residents.
"It's the benefit to the community, and it's a tremendous benefit," said Vumbacco, whose company owns or operates 44 hospitals across the United States, with two more under contract. "This will be an absolutely superb complex to provide quality health care. . . . I'm just very happy for the people."
Diane Fether of Brooksville said she had not used Brooksville Regional during her short time living here. But she was thrilled that the new hospital is coming and said she planned to volunteer there once it opens. She also was pleased to participate in the health fair.
"I needed a dermatologist," said Fether, 63. "Now I think I found one."
