Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Diane Kortus Mathes

Staff Writer

LAND O’ LAKES — It’s been an incredible journey for Florida Medical Clinic.
In just 16 years, the physician-owned medical practice has grown from nine doctors to 100. Its original five physician offices in Zephyrhills and Dade City are now 16 offices in Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, Carrollwood and a brand new location in Land O’ Lakes.

There’s no question that the practice’s Land O’ Lakes facility is its showpiece. The $8.5 million, 32,000-square-foot, two-story, Spanish-style building is topped with a striking red tile roof. Inside, floors are marble tile, ceilings are high and medical specialties open out to central courtyard-like areas. Big windows let in bright, natural light and look out over a landscape of re-located palms and acres of mostly undeveloped land.
The clinic is the largest and most visible building on the busy SR 54 corridor between I-75 and US 41, and is the first structure completed on the 205-acre Terra Bella property.
When announced in 2006, the planned community of Terra Bella called for 311 apartments, 250 homes and a 32,000-square-foot mini-mall on 206 acres between Livingston Avenue and 20 Mile Level Road. The project was to be a new eastern gateway to Land O’ Lakes.
While the recession has stalled those projects, Florida Medical Clinic never faltered on its timetable. The clinic opened in September with 20 physicians in 11 specialties, including the core specialties of family medicine, cardiology interventional pain medicine and dermatology. It also houses a diagnostic laboratory and X-ray services.
Guiding the complex to its successful opening was Joe Delatorre, chief executive officer of Florida Medical Clinic.
“We never slowed down our plans for Land O’ Lakes when the economy slowed,” he said. “There were very few options for healthcare in this marketplace and we were needed here.”
The 48-year-old Wesley Chapel resident has led Florida Medical Clinic since the practice was established in 1993. Its five founding physicians recruited Delatorre to run all business aspects of their new practice to allow them to focus on taking care of patients. The concept of physicians using a business manager was a relatively new idea 20 years ago, Delatorre said.

“Florida Medical is all about doctors who just want to be doctors,” said Delatorre. “I was hired to do everything else.”
Delatorre was uniquely qualified for the job. The son of a physician who taught at the University of Florida, Delatorre was a 1988 University of Florida graduate, earning masters in business administration and health sciences.
One of his first jobs out of college was at Dade City Hospital (now Pasco Regional Medical Center), where he was chief executive officer at age 29. It was 1991 and the hospital was owned by Humana Hospitals. After a year in Dade City, the corporation promoted Delatorre to CEO of the much larger Humana Women’s Hospital in Tampa.
Two years later, Humana sold the hospital to St. Joseph’s and offered Delatorre another top position in Texas. At the same time, St. Joseph’s wanted him to stay on to lead its new management team.
Instead, Delatorre went with the vision of five doctors he knew from his year in Dade City to manage their new partnership in East Pasco.
Why did he take the risk of a new venture instead of the security of a large corporation?
“I was young and entrepreneurial,” Delatorre said. “I knew I could always go back to the corporate world because I had a successful tract record. But I thought the environment was right to help doctors run their business, and these were five people I knew and trusted.”
Under Delatorre’s leadership, the young practice grew quickly. In October of 1993, Florida Medical Clinic bought 12 acres and a vacant strip center on US 301 in Zephyrhills for $800,000 and began a $2.4 million renovation. A little more than a year later, in January1995, Delatorre moved his doctors into the new facility.
Next up on Delatorre’s mission to capture market share in East Pasco was Wesley Chapel. In 2000, Florida Medical Clinic purchased an old Shoney’s restaurant on SR 54 and I-75 and expanded it from 5,600 to 10,000 square feet.
In 2002, it recruited two premier gastroenterology offices in North Tampa, which were the catalyst for moving into New Tampa and building an ambulatory surgery center on Bruce B. Downs not far from University Community Hospital. Then it was Carrollwood, with an office at Bearss Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway.
In 2005, Florida Medical Clinic bought its 10 acres in Land O’ Lakes for $3.5 million and began to plan its mother ship. Now that its Land O’ Lakes facility is completed, Delatorre said they are looking at adding a 10,000 square-foot administrative building behind it.
Today, just about every medical specialty is found at Florida Medical Clinic, with the exception of obstetrics and pediatrics. Delatorre said those specialties will likely become part of the group when the right opportunities present themselves.
Florida Medical Clinic is the third largest physician group in the Tampa area, after the University of South Florida and Watson Clinic in Lakeland. It employs 130 medical providers and 700 support staff.
The Clinic remains physician owned and operated, with 68 doctors as shareholders.
“Every doctor is eligible to become a partner after three years,” explained Delatorre, a model which he says attracts some of the best doctors in the country.
Delatorre has lived in Saddlebrook since 1995 and before then in the Lake Padgett community in Land O’ Lakes. Married to Kelley for 26 years, their daughters attended elementary and middle school at Academy at the Lakes. Stephanie, 22, is a 2009 graduate of the University of Virginia and Shannon, 18, graduated high school last spring from Academy of Holy Names in Tampa.
Not many people know that Joe Delatorre’s parents escaped from Cuba in 1961 when his mother was eight months pregnant with him.
“My father likes to say that I was manufactured in Cuba and born in the United States,” he said.
After fleeing the Castro regime, his dad relocated the family to Virginia were he completed his medical residency in psychiatry at the University of Virginia and later settled permanently in Gainesville.
Since his stint at Dade City Hospital in the early 1990s, Pasco County has been Delatorre’s home.
“This is a community I love that has given me and my family so many opportunities,” he said. “It’s great to give something back.”

Mandy (right) is a 7-year-old Shih-Tzu. She is the Patient Greeter for CG-1 Chiropractic, located at 1930 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Suite 16, in Lutz. Mandy’s proud owner is Dorothy Todd, office manager for CG-1 Chiropractic

Buttons  is a Chihuah (below)  that weighs only four pounds but has the attitude of a 40-pound dog. She was adopted from the local rescue C.A.R.E.S. of Odessa. She is very active and loves to play with all types of toys and balls. Buttons loves to run like the wind with her friends at the

dog park and is a member of a local Chihuahua meet-up group. She and her older brother, Baby, keep each other happy, active and healthy. Buttons asks for everyone who wants a new friend, to please consider adopting a rescue. Buttons’ proud owners are Lynne and Fred Tonte, of Wesley Chapel.

LUTZ — Wal-Mart has announced that its newest location at the apex of US 41 and Dale Mabry Highway is scheduled to open to customers in November.

Construction on the building is complete, and the retailer will spend the next few weeks transforming the new building, stocking shelves and preparing for the grand opening.

The new store is replacing the old Wal-Mart at 21703 Village Lakes Shopping Center, which originally opened in 1987.

After the move, the store plans to employ approximately 380 associates, including 240 positions created by the relocation. Many of the newly hired associates are now reporting to work to help prepare the store for its grand opening.

“We are excited about the new products and services we will be able to offer our customers,” said store manager Brandie Guderjahn. “We’ve been fortunate to have a loyal customer base and we look forward to providing an improved shopping experience.”

The store is still hiring full- and part-time associates to work in all areas. Interested applicants should go to the existing store at 21703 Village Lakes Shopping Center or apply online at http://walmartstores.com/Careers/7745.aspx.

All in the family at Britten dentistry

Kyle LoJacono

Staff Writer

LUTZ — It is a family tradition for the Britten’s to become dentists.

Leonard Britten started his practice in 1979 in Tampa, and his twins have followed in his footsteps. However, it was not clear at first if Nick and Todd wanted to go into dentistry.

“It’s not like they both always wanted to be dentists,” Leonard said. “Both didn’t even decide to go into dentistry until college. So I guess it just became a family thing without being planned.”

Born in East Tampa, Britten attended Hillsborough High. He went to the University of South Florida and then Emory Dental School in Atlanta.

Britten’s practice came to Lutz about 20 years ago, and he moved into the current location at 213 Crystal Grove Blvd. in 2001. When Nick graduated from the University of Florida in May with a Doctor of Dental Medicine it took him less than a month to join his father’s practice.

“My first day here was June 9, and it is kind of funny that my first business cards were wrong,” Nick said.

“I got the cards as kind of a graduation gift, but on them it said I had a D.D.S. D.M.D. is a newer term for the degree that dentists get, so it is kind of confusing sometimes when people hear that I have a D.M.D. and my father has a D.D.S. There isn’t much of a difference, but I had to use those business cards for about the first month.”

That was not the only time a Britten had to deal with someone misunderstanding those abbreviations.

“When I still had my practice in Tampa, one time a woman called me and asked if we were a doctor’s delivery service because she saw D.D.S. on our building,” Leonard said. “The woman said she was ready to deliver a baby. You get people who are confused by the terms sometimes.”

Nick’ twin, Todd, is finishing his residency at Florida to be a periodontist, which is a dentist that specializes in the treatment of gum disease. While the twins have chosen to enter the same basic profession, they are far from identical in how they act.

“Todd always seemed to have a plan and know exactly how to get there,” Leonard said. “Todd didn’t usually stray off-course, while Nick tends to look around and survey the area. Sometimes I had to drag Nick out the door when we were going places, but it has worked out for him.”

“I like to think that I kicked him out,” said Nick, born three minutes after his brother. “He was cramping my style, so I had all the room for three minutes.”

Nick and Todd shared a home for most of their lives, including for much of their time in college.

“It is kind of weird, because this is the first time we have ever lived in different cities,” Nick said. “It is strange because as a twin you are used to seeing your twin all the time, but I got over that pretty quickly.”

Leonard said Todd will not likely Todd join his practice.

“It wouldn’t be in his interest to be here because people usually go and find a periodontist when they have a gum problem,” Leonard said. “But he’ll probably stay in Tampa.”

Leonard has another son, Matt, who is 19 months older than Nick and Todd, and has nothing to do with dentistry.

“Matt is kind of the black sheep of the family in this respect, I guess,” Leonard said. “Matt is into electrical contracting. My father, Dale, was a utilities contractor, so I guess he was following in his footsteps.”

What it comes down to is patients of Britten Dental Associates can choose from either Britten.

“It really is great to be able to stay here in Lutz, because this town is where I was born and raised,” Nick said. “I get to work on family and friends that I grew up with.

“I even worked on my old principal at Maniscalco Elementary, Mr. (Anthony) Scolaro, and I didn’t know whether to call him by his first or last name. Really, it has been a dream and I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Group that has been spreading joy looks for new members

By Kyle LoJacono

Staff Writer

LAND O’ LAKES — Joseph R. Berling, of Wesley Chapel, has been a bass signer in the Friendship Singers for more than two years because of how the group brightens people’s days.

“I actually heard about the band through an ad in The Laker,” Berling said. “My wife and I both wanted to do some kind of community service, so we thought the group would be a fun way to give back. We were right and it has been a blast.

“It is really great to be able to bring some joy to the residents because many of them can’t get outside to often.”

The group was established on Oct. 29, 1994 and has been singing at assisted living facilities and retirement homes ever since.

Many have joined the Friendship Singers to give back as Berling did, while others have joined for different reasons.

“I heard about the group at my husband’s funeral,” said Joice Ruby, who lives in Carrollwood and has been singing alto in the group for three years. “We were big Buccaneers fans, and I was used to doing fun things on Sundays. So, I decided to join the group, and it has really helped me.”

The group sings mainly 1930s and 40s music and encourages the residents of the facilities and homes to sing along with them.

“A lot of the residents we sing to don’t have anyone else to come visit them,” said Delores Gast, director and founder of the group. “If we can just make them smile for a few minutes, then we know we have done a good thing.”

Gast lives in Saint Joseph, located north of San Antonio, and said there are members in the group from Dade City down into Tampa, including Zephyrhills, Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, Lutz and New Tampa.

In addition to singing to the residents, the Friendship Singers also give out stuffed animals and other small gifts to them to really make their concerts special.

The group has proven to be long lasting and has 55 members signed up, but many only participate seasonally. Only 25 to 30 are active in the group at any time.

However, several of the members have recently dropped, which has created a need for more.

“We could use all members, but we really could use some male singers,” Berling said. “We’ve got just a couple of men right now. We could use a couple more bass and baritones to even things out a little bit.”

The group practices every other Saturday at the Senior Nutrition Center, located at 6801 Wisteria Loop, just off US 41 in Land O’ Lakes from 10 a.m. to noon. Members usually sing every other Sunday at different local assisted living facilities and retirement homes in the mid-morning to afternoon.

Anyone interested in joining the group should e-mail Berling at . There are no auditions, and no professional experience is needed.

“I can assure you that everyone has forgotten their words at least once,” Berling said. “We goof up all the time, and it is funny when it happens.”

Those who are not the best singers can also help the group by contributing new stuffed animals or other small gifts. To donate, e-mail Berling for details.

“The residents all seem to have such a great time, and I think it really makes their day,” Gast said. “If only everyone could come and see how much it means to them. They would all understand why we do it. The songs and gifts are small things that make a big difference.”

By Steve Lee

Staff Writer

LUTZ — When elected as Lutz Guv’na, Suzin Carr vowed to promote local businesses. Turning her words into action, she came up with the Lutz Shop and Stroll.

That Dec. 12 event coincides with Breakfast with Santa, which takes place from 9 a.m. to noon at the Old Lutz Schoolhouse. The Lutz Shop and Stroll will involve 40 local businesses, including eight anchor stops.

“It’s a win-win for all kinds of people,” Carr said. “There’s a couple of people, when I went to them they said, ‘I always wanted to do this.’”

Like Breakfast with Santa on that second Saturday in December, the Lutz Shop and Stroll is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon. The public is invited to check off a so-called shopping list be visiting Lutz businesses along US 41 and become eligible for what Carr dubbed as the “Grand Basket of Lutz.”

“It’s just going to be a great mix of stuff after people have had breakfast with Santa,” Carr said.

Eight shops have been selected with five local vendors offering products or services at each stop along the way. That list includes: Felicitous, The Old Lutz School, Susan’s Mane Tamers, Castle Furniture, Great Gardens and Gifts, Nancy’s Good and Fast Food, Patio Ways and Caremes Market.

“My role as Guv’na I take very seriously,” she said. “I told these people I would support them. They supported me.”

For further details, e-mail suzin@illuminatedpublishing