Move to Wiregrass removes one obstacle

If you're going to pitch a new service that would help people avoid traffic congestion, it makes little sense for your proposed service to add to that transportation mess.

The people behind a joint venture to build a hospital in Wesley Chapel wisely reached that conclusion this week in announcing they would move their planned 80-bed medical center to an alternative site away from the crowding along State Road 54 east of Interstate 75.

University Community Hospital and Adventist Health System, which owns and operates Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, had planned to build at SR 54 and Tupper Road until county commissioners rejected the site in July when they heard neighbors' worries about inadequate road network there.

Instead, the joint venture, known as Pasco Pinellas Hillsborough Community Health System, will build on what had been Adventist's original plan A: 50 acres it bought in 2003 just northeast of the Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and State Road 56 intersection on Wiregrass Ranch. It is the same site upon which Adventist applied last year to build a hospital. The state, however, rejected that application and two others, saying none documented a need for more hospital beds in east or central Pasco.

The Wiregrass site is a more logical choice considering the venture's application to the state to build the facility in 2007 cited the heavy traffic conditions that delay trips to the hospitals nearest to Wesley Chapel in Tampa and Zephyrhills. The site's other substantial attribute is the close proximity to the area where Pasco-Hernando Community College wants to build a $58-million Wesley Chapel center for up to 600 full-time students. College officials have said the center could partner with the hospital to specialize in schooling students for careers in health occupations.

Besides access, the successful application also cited future need because of a growing and aging population, and new data showing hospital admissions at East Pasco Medical Center and Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, the two existing hospitals in east Pasco, increased significantly in 2006 over the previous five-year average. The application also promised pledges of $200,000 for Pasco County to purchase ambulance equipment and $500,000 for scholarships for high school students to attend two-year health science programs.

Whether the proposed hospital will pass muster with an administrative law judge remains to be determined because of objections from already approved, but not yet open, hospitals concerned about duplication of services. The parent company of St. Joseph's Hospital North, under construction in Lutz, and HCA's Trinity Medical Centre, going up near the intersection of State Road 54 and Little Road, oppose the state certificate of need for the new hospital in Wesley Chapel. Among other conflicts, all three propose to serve people living in the 34639 zip code of Land O'Lakes.

Duplication of services should be avoided. Empty beds in underutilized health care facilities lead to pressure from hospitals on private and government insurers to raise their reimbursement rates. It is a precursor to higher premium and deductible payments for everyone.

Convincing a judge the hospital is needed is a task ahead for the new community health system, but at least road congestion should be removed as a potential obstacle.

[Last modified October 27, 2007, 20:53:19]