Special to The Laker/Lutz News

New corporate headquarters gives space for other services

By Kyle LoJacono

When Florida Medical Clinic opened its newest facility in 2009 on SR 54 in Land O’ Lakes, it was with an eye toward the future.

It was built to easily allow for several expansions, and the first of those got under way Dec. 6. The $3.5 million project is adding a 30,000-square-foot administrative building that will become the business’ new corporate headquarters.
Currently, Florida Medical is headquartered at a few locations in east Pasco County, including Zephyrhills.
“I have mixed emotions a little bit because I’ve been in Zephyrhills for such a long time, but this will be the first time I can put all of the administrative functions in one location,” said Florida Medical Clinic CEO Joe Delatorre, who started the company in east Pasco 17 years ago. “Right now there is a lot of lost time going back and forth to meet with all these different people. This will be very nice to be more centrally located.”
Florida Medical spokeswoman Janet Wing said the headquarters should be open by late summer 2011.
With the timesaving, the movement west will open up room for more services in Zephyrhills.
“We need more space for (same-day surgery) expansion, clinical rheumatology expansion and urgent care expansion all in Zephyrhills,” said Delatorre, who currently lives in Wesley Chapel. “This new facility will free up the space for those expansions in east Pasco.”
The first of those future projects is for same-day surgery, which will be a 12,000-square-foot expansion expected to begin in the first half of 2011. Rheumatology facilities will grow by 7,500 square feet, plus a tentative plan to make a 7,000-square-foot addition to urgent care.
In addition, after the new headquarters are built, Delatorre said they will likely add another 18,000 square feet for more medical services to the Land O’ Lakes facility.
“We can’t add any more physicians right now in Land O’ Lakes,” Delatorre said. “We’re brimming.”
Delatorre said Florida Medical has 110 physicians and another 40 employees who extend doctor’s ability to heal, such as nurses.
“The best thing to say is we are a progressive, multi-specialty physician-owned practice,” Delatorre said. “You can come to one location and have many health issues taken care of.”
Florida Medical currently has 17 facilities operating in Lutz, Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills, Dade City, New Tampa, Carrollwood and North Tampa. Delatorre said Florida Medical’s proximity to hospitals like Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, Pasco Regional Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, University Community Hospital and the future Wesley Chapel Medical Center is one of its strengths.
“If you see one of our doctors, you can go to basically any of those hospitals,” Delatorre said. “That helps with insurance issues for the patient. … Also, with our electronic health record it integrates all of our facilities, so it’s seamless to go from one facility to the other.”
Florida Medical put its electronic medical records in place since 2006. It not only allows their doctors to see a patient’s health history, but also to see all the medications they might be taking.
“Just the medications alone for our seniors, a lot of time they don’t remember which ones they’re on,” Wing said. “Here the history is all in the records so the physicians make sure nothing interacts with something else they’re taking.”
As for any future expansions beyond what he listed, Delatorre grinned a little and said, “I have plenty more. Pasco County is an extension of Hillsborough County and there is a lot of activity going on here. We’ve been here for 17 years and developed a good reputation and recruited some great physicians. We are uniquely located in these markets and I think there is more to come.”

By Kyle LoJacono

Baseball and scouting have been two of the biggest influences on Owen Sarwatka and the Lutz resident has come up with a way to combine the two.

Owen, 16, is in the final stages of earning his Eagle Scout award and for his final project, he and his Tampa Catholic High baseball team and coaches will teach the sport to children in the Little League Challenger Division. The program allows physically and mentally disabled kids ages 4-21 to learn about and play baseball.
“I wanted to do something to help the community and spread the love of baseball,” Owen said. “I’ve played for about four years and want everyone to have the chance to play.”
Owen, who is a pitcher and catcher, came up with the project idea while watching MLB Network. A special on the Challenger Division was on and he said it looked like a great program.
“That’s when I learned I wanted to do something for the Challenger Division, but I really got things going because George Steinbrenner inspired me,” Owen said. “He gave back so much to the community and when he died this year I knew I had to do something kind of in his honor to help the community he did so much for.”
Both the Bloomingdale and Northside Little League Challenger Divisions will participate in the event, which is called Everyone Can Play, Jan. 15 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. There will be various stations demonstrating different parts of baseball with Tampa Catholic players and coaches. Those interested in participating must sign up by Dec. 31.
“Our biggest thing is giving everyone a chance to play baseball,” said Northside coach Frank Reyes of Lutz. “I’ve been a coach in the Challenger Division for 15 years and saw how it helped my son. He’s 20 now and has Down syndrome and baseball was a way for him to make friends. I’ve worked in mental health research, mainly with kids, for many years and this program really helps.”
Reyes said the biggest improvement for those who participate in the program is it helps them work with other people. The Northside league is located in the neighborhood across the street from Gaither High and most of the players are from Lutz, Land O’ Lakes, Odessa and Carrollwood. They currently have two Challenger teams that play out of the location.
Reyes said he is also trying to create a stronger link between the Challenger Divisions in the area and connect more people to the program. For more information, call him at (813) 974-7415.
The most important thing to Sarwatka is teaching the sport to the kids, but the Tampa Catholic baseball coaches think it will be just as beneficial for the team.
“We thought it would be something great for Owen and for the team,” said Crusaders hitting coach Paul Russo, who is also Owen’s adviser for the project. “Every player at Tampa Catholic will be a part of it. It will let them work with special needs kids and let them appreciate their own health. I think it will also be a team-building event for them.”
Russo also has a special connection with special needs children. He was the area director for the Miracle League, which is similar to the Challenger Division, for several years. His also taught similar students.
“Watching these kids show their spirit playing this game and getting enjoyment out of it is well worth the effort to teach them,” Russo said. “It’s very special to see and I know the players will get as much out of it as the kids they show the game to.”
Owen, a sophomore, is new to Tampa Catholic this year after spending his freshman year at Tampa Bay Tech.
“All the coaches were on board before they even had all the details,” said Suzanne Sarwatka, Owen’s mother. “Everyone at the school has been amazing with helping. The key club, administration, the cheerleaders, the team. Everyone has been helping and spreading the word about it.”
On the baseball field, Owen will start the 2011 season on the junior varsity team to improve his four pitches — a fastball, slider, curveball and changeup. The Crusaders reached the Class 3A state semifinals last season, losing to eventual champion The Bolles School.
Owen has been in Boy Scouts of America for about five years. He has been in three different troops and is finishing the program as a lone scout, which means he is doing the final achievements on his own.
“It’s helped me with leadership qualities,” Owen said. “Leadership is the biggest thing and also with communications skills.”
For more information on Everyone Can Play or to signup as a participant or volunteer, visit www.everyonecanplay.org.

Everyone Can Play
Where: Bloomingdale Little League
Address: 2215 Bloomingdale Ave. Valrico
When: Jan. 15
Deadline: signup by Dec. 31, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Website: www.everyonecanplay.org to signup, volunteer or donate

By B.C. Manion

Three windows were broken at the Old Lutz School building and $3.50 was stolen when vandals broke into the building on Dec. 5.

It may not seem like a big deal to people who are unfamiliar with the school’s history, but the structure — which opened in 1927 — is a point of community pride.
Generations of Lutz residents went to school there before it was closed in the mid-1970s and at one point it was nearly knocked down to make way to widen US 41. The community rallied around it, sparing it from the wrecking ball, and it now serves as a gathering spot for various events.
A group of citizens has formed the Friends of the Old Lutz School Building to raise money to cover the cost of insurance, electricity and general upkeep.
And their pride in the building is strong.
That may be why the break-in, which occurred sometime shortly after 6:30 on Dec. 5, has drawn a strong reaction from that group.
It seems senseless that someone would cause between $500 and $1,000 worth of damage just to steal $3.50, said Phyllis Hoedt, who is co-chairwoman of that Friends of the Old Lutz School Building.
The incident was reported to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and dusting was done for fingerprints, Hoedt said.
The break-in occurred sometime between 6:30 and 7 p.m., Hoedt said.
Gary Rogers was helping to bring back some items from the Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival that had been held at Lake Park, Hoedt said.
When Rogers realized he had forgotten his keys to the school, he went home to get them. When he returned to the school, he found the broken windows.
The group suspects that two boys are responsible because Rogers saw two boys running nearby when he returned.
The schoolhouse is brightly decorated now and open for an annual Christmas house. The event is free, but donations are welcome, Hoedt said.

By B.C. Manion

It’s been a quarter-century since Gaither High School opened, and now it’s getting ready for $17.3 million makeover.
The project, slated to begin in late January, will take about 18 months to complete, said John Williams, project coordinator for Hillsborough County public schools.
The work will be completed in five phases, with the phases to be done a semester at a time and over summer.
Twenty-four portable classrooms will be used to accommodate students when the work is being done during the school year, Williams said.
“The big assembly spaces will be done in the summer,” Williams said, when the school is closed. Those spaces include the cafeteria, the auditorium, the locker room, large music rooms, the dining room and the agriculture, drafting and automobile labs.
Once a semester has started, students will not be moved either from the portable classrooms into the school building or vice versa, Williams said.
The work will involve replacing the school’s mechanical systems, which means removing the big chillers and air handlers. That work will require removing and replacing the ceiling and lighting. The school also will get a new roof.
The project calls for new fire alarms, new security systems, a new intercom system, repainting and the installation of fire sprinklers. It also includes sealing up the ventilation system.
Air quality problems plagued Gaither High schools during the early 1990s, prompting staff and students to complain about the air being too cold in some parts of the building and too hot in others. They also objected to mold growing on an interior wall and on some tools, equipment and ceiling tiles in a classroom wing.
Williams said the project calls for replacing the air-conditioning system and the school’s roof, so he doesn’t expect similar problems to occur.
Because the project is being done at a high school, students may be attending portable classrooms for some periods and classes in permanent spaces during the rest of the day.
People passing by the school probably won’t be able to tell that anything is being done inside the school, Williams said.
The project also calls for adding a stairwell at the front of the building, to meet current safety codes. The restrooms also will be updated to meet current American with Disabilities Act requirements.
Air quality problems plagued Gaither High schools during the early 1990s, prompting staff and students to complain about the air being too cold in some parts of the building and too hot in others. They also objected to mold growing on an interior wall and on some tools, equipment and ceiling tiles in a classroom wing.

By B.C. Manion

While the economy continues to struggle, Pasco County leaders are working to lay the groundwork to position the county to market itself more effectively to attract good jobs.
There’s no doubt that change is coming, said Bob Gray of Strategic Planning Group Inc., which has been hired to help the county develop its strategic economic development plan.
“The bottom line is in the next 20-25 years, everything you see in Pasco County is going to double,” Gray said. “If we thought we saw an impact before, hold your hats.
“The Pasco of the future will begin to mirror Pinellas and Hillsborough. 2035 will not be your father’s Pasco County,” Gray said.
Pasco County is the state’s 12th largest county. Its population grew from 36,000 in 1960 to about 471,000 now, Gray told a group of stakeholders assembled to help fashion the county’s economic development plan. The group, representing a variety of interests —  including government, businesses, retail, banking, real estate, utilities, citizens and others — met last week at Alice Hall Community Center in Zephyrhills.
The group is meeting again this week to identify the county’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as part of the process to create the economic development plan.
The issue is not whether Pasco County will grow and get more jobs; it’s whether it will grow the way it wants and get the kind of jobs that it wants, Gray said.
The county has tracts that are large enough for development, said Richard Gehring, planning and growth management administrator for Pasco County. He envisions Dade City and Zephyrhills as being potential anchors in the economic development plan. He also noted the county has been divided into five market areas.
Those are the east, west, north, south and central market areas, according to background documentation provided at the meeting.
Gray said the county doesn’t have a workforce problem because it draws its workforce from the region. He also said its proximity to the University of South Florida is a huge benefit.
However, John Hagen, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, said being able to draw from the region isn’t enough.

“My concern is that we create high-skilled jobs, but our residents don’t get the jobs,” Hagen said. Efforts must be made to help Pasco’s workforce develop the kinds of skills needed to secure those high-quality jobs, he said.
Hagen is optimistic about Pasco’s future, but said it will take hard work to achieve what the county wants.
“We’re well-positioned to take future growth here,” Hagen said. However, he added, the county can’t merely sit back and wait. “I think we’re going to have to make that happen. If we’re anti-growth, the growth will go elsewhere.
“Things are going to get shaken up and we want to be the shakers, not the shaken,” Hagen said.
Gray said the county’s economic development plan has to start with a vision: “What do we want?”
It’s also important to get community buy-in regarding the importance of economic development, Gray said.
“We have to get a buy-in because there is going to be a cost for implementing the plan,” Gray said.

By B.C. Manion

Get ready to change your life.
That’s the message the Center for Living Wellness conveys to those arriving at the beige building at 19105 N. US 41 in Lutz.
It’s a unique place that offers fitness, yoga, nutrition and cooking classes — and, which operates side by side with the SeVaMed Institute, where Dr. Shilpa P. Saxena combines elements of conventional and natural medicine in her integrative medicine practice to provide care that goes beyond pharmaceuticals.

Saxena met Michele Drielick, executive director for the Center for Living Wellness, when both women were at a health and wellness expo.
They discovered they were kindred spirits because both of them want to help people live healthier lives and neither felt the traditional approach to healthcare was working.
When a doctor tells a patient that he or she should “stop eating white stuff and start exercising” it is unlikely that the advice will result in real change, Drielick said.
But when people become knowledgeable about diet and nutrition and truly understand how what they eat and how much they move affects their overall health, they become advocates for their own good health, Drielick said.
“We want our office to be targeted toward health,” Saxena said. The doctor said she went into medicine because she wanted to heal people. She soon learned, however, that she was spending much of her time scribbling prescriptions.
But she now works in an environment that fosters an opportunity for patients to make real and lasting life changes.
When Saxena gets a patient that has high blood pressure, she can prescribe medication to treat the condition, the doctor said.
But she also encourages her patients to make lifestyle changes that can help them reclaim their good health and stop taking medications.
That’s where the Center for Living Wellness comes in. It helps people to become more knowledgeable about diet and nutrition and provides a supportive atmosphere to help them change their lifestyle.
Some center members are Saxena’s patients, but anyone is welcome to join the center, Drielick said.
The center’s monthly membership is $39 per month, without a monthly commitment, for unlimited exercise classes, including fitness and yoga classes. Those interested in joining can get a free week to preview the center’s offerings.
One advantage the center offers is small exercise classes, said Amber Swortzel, a fitness instructor at the center. That allows for more individualized instruction, she said.
“I’ve worked in fitness centers before where I’ve had 40 people in a class. When I have 40 people in a class, it’s hard for me to see,” she said. She normally has about a half-dozen members in her Monday night class.
The center also offers quarterly wellness lectures, cooking classes and a food coop that members can join to order organic fruits and vegetables.
Cristin Becker, of Wesley Chapel, recently was at the center with her 4-year-old son, Liam and her 3-year-old daughter, Chloe, picking up the family’s order of organic fruits and veggies.
Becker had nothing but praise for the center. She described it as “a kind of community that offers a lot of support.
“It helps to have like-minded people,” Becker said. “It helps to recommit you to your passion for vibrant living.”
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a challenge in a culture that doesn’t make it easy to do, said Becker, who has attended wellness lectures and cooking classes at the center.
“To change how you live can be tough,” Becker said. “It is hard. They never try to tell you otherwise because if they say otherwise, they’re lying,” she said.
Becker said she hopes her children will learn how to lead healthy lives because they’re growing up in a household that values good health. “They won’t have the bad habits,” she said.
Besides its current offerings, the center will be adding two initiatives in January.
It is launching its Living Wellness University, which will provide online health/nutrition classes, Healthy Gourmand cooking classes, yoga and fitness classes to subscribers for $14.95 a month.
It also is beginning its 90-Day Shred, which is $125 a month and it is $195 a month when it includes a personalized nutrition plan.
“That’s a very intense program. It will yield absolute results. You do it, it’s done,” Drielick said.
Saxena said conventional medicine can be likened to trying to plug holes in a wall to prevent a flood.
The real issue, Saxena said, is how to reduce the water on the other side of the wall.
Saxena strives to help people understand complex medical topics so they can bring about real, meaningful life-long change,
The doctor noted that three things have a profound effect on a person’s general health: the way we eat, the way we move and the way we manage our stress.
However, physicians are not trained in nutrition, exercise or stress management, Saxena said.
The Center for Living Wellness strives to help people improve their overall health.
“By improving diet and lifestyle, we have seen amazing results. Diet and exercise can make all of the difference,” Drielick said.
People can either feed their disease or prevent their disease, Saxena said.
“We are going to change the way you behave and live so that you have the chance to live well,” Saxena said.
For more information about the Center for Living Wellness call (813) 269-2700 or go to centerforlivingwellness.com.