Stability, quality care on hospital's horizon

By CHASE SQUIRES

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 15, 2001

DADE CITY -- In a three-year period, the hospital in Dade City has had four names.

Police and sheriff's deputies sometimes just list it on their reports as "Dade City Hospital."

And then there were the rumors it would be sold.

As the year begins, the hospital's new Executive Director Andrew Knizley said he has accepted the challenge of instilling stability.

He said he sees a bright future for the 120-bed facility. The foundation is strong and the people are good, he said. All he needs is a little time to steady the ship and convince employees and the community that he will maintain the course.

"This hospital is not going to be resold," he said.

The hospital along Fort King Road was purchased last summer by Naples-based Health Management Associates, a company that specializes in rural communities with small hospitals, and Knizley came with the new ownership. It was a big change from the previous owners, HCA-The Healthcare Company, America's largest hospital owner, formerly known as Columbia/HCA.

The place also changed its name, again, to Pasco Regional Medical Center. The facility had been known as Columbia Dade City Hospital, Dade City Hospital, and Pasco Community Hospital before the new name and bright green logo.

Both the name and the management are going to stick around, Knizley predicted.

"HCA had a lot bigger things and a lot bigger hospitals to think about," he said. "We're a smaller company and can bring more attention to the hospital. If I want to talk to the chairman of HMA, I can call him at home. They know me. They know my family."

The advantage of a close relationship with the corporate bosses, and the freedom such trust brings, will shine through in the coming year as Pasco Regional embraces a back-to-basics approach to making the hospital stronger, Knizley said.

Knizley, 37, is a soft-spoken man in wire-rim glasses.

His face might not be as familiar around town as earlier administrators, but that's because Knizley said he is focusing every minute on the job at hand.

At a recent meeting of the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce's economic development committee, although he is a member, he took a seat along the wall, not at the conference table.

A veteran of HMA, working for his fourth company hospital in six years, Knizley said he is happy to return to his home state from his previous assignment in West Virginia, and he is ready to put down roots, already planning to build his dream house in east Pasco with his wife, Elizabeth, and their 4-year-old son, Lincoln.

Knizley, who grew up in Gainesville and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Stetson University, said his passion for restoring cars is a lot like rebuilding a hospital.

"You've got a lot of things going on simultaneously that all have to come together," he said.

Making a splash, Knizley said, isn't the goal. Making the hospital work is. "We want the hospital to fit the community we're in. I have that responsibility to make the hospital fit the community."

That means Pasco Regional Medical Center won't try to compete with a Tampa facility by offering a range of specialized services. To do a procedure well, Knizley said a hospital should do a lot of that procedure. If Dade City doesn't need the capability to do a rare procedure, he won't force it on the hospital.

"You don't want to experiment with services. The simple promise is: If you come here, you're going to get the best care we can deliver," he said.

So while there aren't any plans to announce major expansions or new wings or exotic services, Knizley predicted residents will be proud of their community hospital. "I plan on being here a long time," Knizley said. "I'm used to delivering on my promises."

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