Health

Government shutdown could soon victimize poor children, infants

October 9, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Lacy White followed the latest news from Washington, D.C. closely over the past few weeks as Congress and the President haggled over spending measures that led to a federal government shutdown.

Not only was her husband a civilian contractor at MacDill Air Force Base who would lose his paycheck if a shutdown were to occur, but both were eight weeks into caring for an infant they’ve fostered since she was born, and were depending on the government to help pay for the baby’s needs.

“This is a double whammy for us, and it’s frustrating,” the former Land O’ Lakes resident said. “We need the checks to help with the baby’s formula, and without those, we’d have to pay out of our own pockets. But if my husband is working without pay, too, then we really have to dig to get the money.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture website, which is the home for information on the federal government’s WIC program to help support women, infants and children, shows only an error page to anyone trying to visit. The federal government shutdown has created a potentially serious problem for poor families, who depend on government assistance to feed their children.

White receives support through WIC, the federal assistance program more formally known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Individual states like Florida administer the program using federal dollars — money that is now missing because of the federal government’s inability to keep the financial coffers open.

Communication between the government and WIC recipients has been nonexistent. Even visiting the website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the federal program, brings up a page telling visitors that “due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not available.”

So, White and others like her have to turn to the news.

“As far as I have read, WIC is shut down, and we will no longer be getting her formula checks,” White said of her foster baby. “No one has contacted us. No one has let us know. We have to go by word of mouth.”

But checks are continuing to be cut, even as federal dollars stop, said Deanna Krautner, a spokeswoman for Pasco County. She referred more detailed questions to the state level, who in a statement said Florida Department of Health “continues to monitor the situation in Washington, D.C., and the department will be able to continue WIC services for the foreseeable future.”

When pressed further about where those dollars are coming from, Department of Health spokeswoman Denishia Sword said the state has put together temporary operating dollars, including reallocated federal funding, USDA contingency funds and infant formula rebates.

Yet, those contingency funds won’t last long. Bruce Alexander, communications director with the USDA, told Forbes magazine that if the shutdown is not resolved before October ends, there may not be sufficient money to keep the program going.

The USDA typically receives $7 billion to run programs like WIC nationally, but the program’s contingency fund is just $125 million — enough to run the program for six days.

White’s family, luckily, has put money away for a rainy day, and only collects WIC because she has a foster baby. Yet, families that solely depend on WIC won’t have those options, and she fears children not just in the Tampa Bay area, but across the country, will suffer.

“We would typically spend $100 a month on formula, and that’s just to feed her,” White said. “There are a lot of expenses involving children, and families who live in poverty would not be able to do this on their own.”

If her family ran into problems, White said her church will be available to help. But there may be only so much charity groups can do — especially if so many families end up in need, said Thomas Mantz, chief executive of Feeding America Tampa Bay. While the organization does not necessarily provide the same services as WIC, if families have to suddenly pay for items like formula, they may have to make cuts in other areas — like food.

“Any time there are challenges in the economic environment, one of the choices people will often make is the choice of food,” Mantz said. “They have to pay a medical bill, or they have to get their car running to get to work, or they have to pay for their lights or rent. Any time those choices have to be made, these folks have to go without food, and seek food assistance elsewhere.”

Feeding America will move 40 million pounds of food in its 10-county service area this year, but that is still not enough, covering less than 50 percent of the need. And if the government shutdown continues, that will be even more assistance the group will have to be ready to supply.

Congress and the President getting back on the same page couldn’t come too soon, White said. The government needs to get back to work, and start paying for these much-needed social programs.

“My husband has to get up every day to go to work without a paycheck, yet these guys are up there still paying themselves while we are all just waiting,” White said. “Something needs to be done.”

After cancer diagnosis, community runs for Keppel

October 2, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Kris Keppel is never one to give up.

Always a fighter in his 20 years as a coach of the Land O’ Lakes High School cross-country team, he now is facing an even tougher battle — pancreatic cancer — and his team, school and community are rallying around him to notch yet another big win.

“Life has definitely turned on a dime,” said Karen DeHaas, the coach of the Gators’ girls’ cross-country team. Better known as “Mima” to the runners because of her granddaughter’s influence on the team, DeHaas was one of the first to find out about Keppel’s diagnosis just a little more than two weeks ago.

“I cried so much,” DeHaas said. “You don’t know how much I cried. I’d be lost without him.”

The cross-country teams of Land O’ Lakes High School don ‘I run for Keppel’ shirts in honor of Coach Kris Keppel, who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Breaking the news to the rest of the team was hard, especially when Keppel could not be at his first cross-country event in the two decades he’s been a coach. But he was still there, thanks to technology, as he watched the first runners cross the finish line thanks to a FaceTime video feed from someone’s smart phone.

The runners, who have never felt abandoned by Keppel over all these years, were going to stand by him, too.

Two of DeHaas’ runners, Carolyn Estrella and Mary-Kathryn Guenette, got together and designed “I run for Keppel” T-shirts. Complete with a purple ribbon, representative of those who are fighting pancreatic cancer, the girls have already raised more than $1,000 for Keppel’s family. And they plan to add even more.

“Coach Keppel always cancelled doctor’s appointments in the past just so he doesn’t miss practice, so when he didn’t cancel one appointment for a practice, we knew something was wrong,” said Estrella, a junior at Land O’ Lakes High School. “The next day after that missed practice, we found out he had cancer. It was hard for all of us.”

Estrella and Guenette had 100 shirts printed right away, which the entire cross-country team donned in his honor last Friday, and DeHaas is confident that the two can actually sell more than 1,000 after it’s all said and done. Each one costs $15, and the proceeds go to Keppel.

“There are so many coaches that have already stepped up,” DeHaas said. “We have this big invitational coming up, and I have had phone calls from coaches in Brandon, Tampa, Hernando, all the surrounding counties. I can’t believe all the compassion and support that I have received from all these coaches.”

For Guenette, the cancer diagnosis hit closer to home. Her younger brother, Spencer, battled brain cancer at a very young age. But he also proved that the fight is quite winnable, and now at 14, is in remission.

“I know what the Keppels are going through right now, and it’s a tough time,” Guenette said. “My parents were really proud that we stepped up and made a difference (for Keppel). It’s a good way of coping.”

There is no such thing as an “easy” cancer to be afflicted with, but pancreatic cancer is aggressive. In 2013, the American Cancer Society estimates that more than 45,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, evenly split between men and women. Treatment ranges from chemotherapy and radiation to surgery.

All of that will require a lot of attention and energy on Keppel’s part, but DeHaas knows that he’ll still find a way to influence the runners he has led for so many years.

“He’s hoping that even if he has to be pushed in a wheelchair, he’s going to be out there watching regionals,” DeHaas said. “I told him he could use my chair, which has a big umbrella on it to protect him from the sun. Either way, if there is any chance he can make it out there, he’ll be there.”

The “I run for Keppel” shirts are available to the general public as well, with proceeds benefitting the Keppel family. To order, email — that’s “carolyn” followed by a zero, two ones and “jr” — or visit the athletics department social media page at Facebook.com/lolhsgators.

Sister Stroll brings community together to fight cancer

October 2, 2013 By B.C. Manion

They began streaming in at least an hour before the stroll started. Most were wearing pink shirts.

There were men and women, senior citizens and children.

They all came out for a cause.

The eighth annual Sister Stroll at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills on the evening of Sept. 26 was a tribute to those who have lost their lives, or are battling against breast cancer. Many in the crowd had lost a sister or a mother or a friend to cancer. Some had faced the disease and survived.

“This is a very special event,” Don Welch, chief operating officer of Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, told the crowd. “It’s a very special event for me because my mom passed away from breast cancer.”

Men, women and children turned out to the eighth annual Sister Stroll at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills to show their support in the battle against breast cancer. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

Mary Walters was in the crowd listening to Welch speak. She came to the stroll with her sister, Kathleen Coelho.

“This is an event I try to support every year for all of the women who have breast cancer, and friends who have had breast cancer,” said Walters, who lives in Dade City.

Coelho, who also lives in Dade City, volunteers at the Simpson Breast Health Center at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills. Her personal experiences at the breast health center persuaded her to get involved.

“I was being treated there and I liked the people,” Coelho said. “They recently opened a gift shop, and I think it’s nice that people don’t have to travel long distances to get what they need.”

A huge contingent of Southport Springs residents turned out for the event.

“We are big fundraisers for the Simpson Breast Health Center,” Carla Evans said.

Southport Springs supports the center because it believes it is a good cause, said Barbara Debus, another resident there.

“We know where the money is going,” she said.

Southport Springs has raised so much money for the center it has a mammogram and a bone density room in the center named in the community’s honor.

This year, Southport Springs donated a quilt one of its residents made that will be hung in one of their rooms at the breast center.

The community also donated $3,070 for the breast center — raised from a dance, a bra parade, a pet parade, chance drawings on baskets and other events.

Those attending Sister Stroll, which was on the hospital grounds, had a chance to sign up to become members of the Pink Army, a statewide initiative developed by Florida Hospital to encourage the early detection and prevention of breast cancer.

The campaign enlists new members as Pink Army soldiers. They can rise through the ranks and earn rewards by recruiting other soldiers, attending educational events, scheduling a mammogram or completing other missions.

Dawn Seqiueira, also of Southport Springs, said she is a major in the Pink Army. She’s recruited 41 soldiers. It’s hard to find new recruits there, she said, because so many people already belong.

“We have a lot of (breast cancer) survivors in our community,” she said.

Sister Stroll began as a grassroots event to give the community a chance to learn more about preventing breast cancer, to show their support for people fighting breast cancer, and to remember those who have been lost, said Michelle Oswald-Bianchet, director of marketing for Florida Hospital Zephyrhills.

Carolyn Sentelik, executive director of the Florida Hospital Zephyrhills Foundation, said the event gives people a chance to show their support in the battle against breast cancer. It also gives the foundation a chance to thank the community for supporting its efforts.

“This community is overwhelmingly generous when it comes to breast cancer. It’s a chance for us to say thank you,” Sentelik said.

Pasco Regional Medical Center celebrates 40 years

September 25, 2013 By B.C. Manion

Pasco Regional Medical Center is inviting the public to take a stroll down memory lane, reminiscing about a history in Dade City that stretches back four decades.

The hospital is having its 40th anniversary celebration from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 1, at the facility’s 13100 Fort King Road location. The event will feature hospital tours, a bit of nostalgia and hors d’oeuvres.

Pasco Regional Medical Center, which is changing its name to Bayfront Health Dade City, has a long history in the East Pasco County area.

Visitors will be able to hear about some of the many advances the hospital has made since it opened on Oct. 1, 1973, as Community General Hospital.

On that first day, the hospital had 14 patients, one surgery, 64 beds, 28 physicians, a five-bed intensive care unit, two operating rooms and a nursery that was large enough to accommodate eight babies. It was Dade City’s second hospital.

Over the years, the hospital has changed ownership and names several times.

Recently, the hospital announced its affiliation with Bayfront Health network and soon will change its name to Bayfront Health Dade City. The Bayfront Health network consists of seven hospitals, stretching 150 miles along the Interstate 75 corridor from Brooksville to Punta Gorda.

To put things in perspective, when Pasco Regional Medical Center opened its doors, a postage stamp cost 8 cents, the average household earned $10,512 a year, and people, on average, lived to slightly more than 71 years old.

In the four decades since the hospital opened its doors, it has gone through enormous change, too. It now is one of Pasco County’s biggest economic generators, with an annual payroll of $23 million.

The nationally accredited hospital is a 120-bed acute care facility providing inpatient, outpatient and emergency care.

The hospital serves as a Designated Primary Stroke Center, and specializes in advanced minimally invasive surgical techniques including single-incision laparoscopic surgery, robotic surgery and incision-less procedures.

The hospital is now under new ownership following a $7.6 billion buyout of its parent company. Health Management Associates Inc., the Largo-based company that owns Pasco Regional and 22 other hospitals in Florida, was sold to Community Health Systems Inc., in a deal announced July 30. The sale is not expected to affect the hospital’s name change.

For more information about the hospital, visit PascoRegionalMC.com.

Highlights through the years

1973: Hospital has a ribbon cutting on Sept. 30, drawing a crowd of more than 2,000. The 65-bed Community General Hospital opens officially on Oct. 1, with 14 patients.
1997: Named one of the Nation’s Top 100 Hospitals
2002: Conducts first lap-band surgery in the Tampa Bay area
2006: First East Pasco hospital to offer 64-slice computerized tomography technology
2009: First hospital in Pasco to offer single-incision laparoscopic surgery for hernia repair and gallbladder removal
2010: First hospital in East Pasco to acquire a da Vinci Surgical System SI
2010: Earned designation as a Primary Stroke Center from the Agency for Health Care Administration
2011: Acquired 4-D ultrasound technology
2012: Had grand opening for expanded emergency room
2012: Partnered with Gulfside Regional Hospice to office hospice services on the hospital’s second floor.
2013: Created and introduced Bayfront Health network of seven hospitals stretching 150 miles along the Interstate 75 corridor between Brooksville and Punta Gorda

By the numbers

20,750: Emergency room visits
4,305: Surgeries
195: Physicians
$23 million: Annual payroll
120: Licensed beds

Internal medicine residency program to start at Bayonet Point

September 25, 2013 By B.C. Manion

As the nation grapples with a physician shortage, Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point is gearing up to offer the first internal medicine residency program in Pasco County.

The hospital has received approval from the American Osteopathic Association for the program that is scheduled to begin with six residents in July 2014.

Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point is preparing to offer the first internal medicine residency program in Pasco County. (Photo courtesy Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point)

This program is the hospital’s first step in developing graduate medical education residency programs. It also intends to add Allopathic Graduate Medical Education Programs in general surgery and internal medicine in 2015.

The hospital is honored to extend an opportunity to participate in the hospital’s post-graduate medical education program, Shayne George, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said in a news release.

“Our program will be dedicated to providing the highest quality graduate medical education for those who come to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point from the nation’s medical schools,” he said.

The program will help address a growing need for doctors, according to the 2012 Physician Workforce Annual Report issued by the Florida Department of Health.

“Florida has added undergraduate medical education capacity by opening new medical schools, but lags in creating corresponding graduate medical education opportunities,” the report states.

“Preventing the annual export of qualified GME (residency) candidates to other states is the first step toward shaping the physician workforce of the future,” the report adds.

Statistics contained in the report reveal that nearly 12 percent of Pasco’s active doctors plan to retire within the next five years, and nearly 4 percent plan to relocate. Next door, in Hillsborough County, 10 percent of doctors plan to retire within five years and 3 percent plan to relocate.

Those figures compound the problems of an expected increase in health care demands, as more people are insured to meet requirements of the nation’s changing health care laws, and as the state’s population ages.

Planning for the residency program began more than a year ago, said Kurt Conover, spokesman for Regional Medical Center Bayonet, a 290-bed acute care hospital at 14000 Fivay Road in Hudson. It will take internal medicine residents three years to complete the residency program.

Students from Osteopathic Medical Schools from around the country will be eligible to apply, Conover said. The information will also be posted on the hospital’s website.

“Florida is a popular state for training,” he said, adding that the hospital anticipated filling six positions beginning next July.

Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has a nationally acclaimed heart institute, more than 350 physicians, 900 employees and 500 volunteers on its integrated health care delivery team.

For more information about the hospital, visit www.rmchealth.com.

Butterflies soar, and spirits do, too

September 18, 2013 By B.C. Manion

Some sat in wheelchairs. Others stood with walkers. Some had canes.

Here’s a look at the mesh enclosure that held the butterflies from the time they were tiny caterpillars until the day of their release. They wasted no time claiming their freedom. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

But this crowd of senior citizens cheered like school children when the flock of 50-plus butterflies flew freely into a new garden at Connerton Assisted Care.

The butterfly release was timed to celebrate the grand opening of a new garden at the assisted care center, located at 21021 Betel Palm Lane in Land O’ Lakes. The event was mostly a joyous occasion, marked by the flight of the butterflies and residents enjoying slices from a big decorated cake.

But the event had a sense of solemnity, too, as Jen Chianella of Gulfside Regional Hospice read names of former Connerton residents who have passed away during a moment of remembrance.

Gulfside and Connerton joined together to provide the garden for residents.

“We felt it was a nice way to honor those that have passed at Connerton Court,” Chianella said. “The garden came about as a way to honor those who have passed and a nice way to have a reflection area.”

Karen Birbeck, life enrichment director at Connerton, said the Monarch butterflies were donated by Gulfside and were grown from caterpillar state at the assisted care center.

“We literally started from scratch and raised them here,” Birbeck said.

Dolores Allende, 83, helped feed the caterpillars. Initially, they weren’t much to look at, she said. “They looked like worms.”

Watching them transform into butterflies was magical, however.

“It was exciting. After they opened their wings, they flapped,” said Allende, who lived in the Orlando area before moving to Connerton.

The garden has butterfly host and nectar plants, said Birbeck, who did most of the planting. She did get some help from Felix Blais, a 95-year-old who lives at Connerton.

Blais said he enjoyed helping.

“It was nothing,” he said. “I was a hard worker all of my life. It was a pleasure to work again.”

Besides the passion vine, the garden has Allamanda, and other flowering plants and herbs.

The herbs are in waist-high planters, chosen because they allow people in wheelchairs to wheel right up to them and get a close view of nature.

“I have rosemary and peppermint, spearmint, chives. I have oregano and sage,” Birbeck said.

She wants residents to have the chance to smell the fragrance of the plants, and she hopes the kitchen staff will be able to use some of the herbs in future meals at the center.

Birbeck said her dad Al Birbeck, a Zephyrhills retiree, helped by building the trellis for the passion vine and built bird feeders, too.

Chianella thinks having the garden will provide balm for residents who want a place to grieve losses, to reflect and meditate.

“Because our residents, they don’t have the opportunity to always go to the cemetery,” Birbeck said. “A lot of people really need a spot to grieve, where it’s pretty and it’s therapeutic.”

Wesley Chapel seminar to promote women’s health

September 11, 2013 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Women who want to hear a lecture on heart health, watch a cooking demonstration or get a bit of pampering can get those things and more at the Women’s Health & Wellness Day at Saddlebrook Resort Tampa, off SR 54 in Wesley Chapel.

The free half-day seminar, sponsored by Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, will be on Sept. 21 from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The seminar will feature six breakout sessions, giving women a chance to hear from some of the area’s most respected physicians discussing heart health, breast cancer risk factors, pregnancy, healthy aging and other wellness topics.

Women who are pregnant or are thinking of having a baby can talk with a lactation consultant.

The event will also feature a women’s health panel, with experts fielding questions about primary health care, internal medicine, geriatric medicine, obstetrics and gynecology.

There will also be a cooking demonstration and free screenings for blood pressure, blood glucose, BMI and others. There will be pampering opportunities, too, and giveaways.

The event will feature a women’s health panel, answering questions about primary health care, internal medicine, geriatric medicine, obstetrics and gynecology.

Send questions in advance to .

Space for the seminar is limited and reservations are required.

To register, call (813) 929-5432.

Florida Medical Clinic opens new Carrollwood location

September 4, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Florida Medical Clinic has found a lot of success in pulling all kinds of providers into a single location, making it a one-stop haven for patients.

Locations on SR 56 in Land O’ Lakes and US 301 in Zephyrhills have done just that for years, and now North Tampa is getting the same thing with its North Dale Mabry Highway location.

Construction continues on Florida Medical Clinic’s new dialysis center that it’s building on Eiland Boulevard with DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. DaVita will be the primary user of the 12,000-square-foot structure, with 2,500 square feet of that dedicated to medical offices. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Florida Medical Clinic is finally bringing all of its Carrollwood providers together under one roof, recycling a former Borders location at 12500 N. Dale Mabry Highway.

“The project in Carrollwood is a natural extension of our practices,” said Joe Delatorre, chief executive officer of Florida Medical Clinic. “We are only growing contiguously, and we want to keep that multi-specialty group concept where people can access as many systems as possible. And that just made sense for us on Dale Mabry.”

The doors have already opened for the Carrollwood office, and by the end of September, patients should have access to 27 providers from 12 different specialties. It will range from internal medicine, orthopedics and gastroenterology, to facial plastics, pulmonology and cardiology.

“People want to get in, get what they need done, and get out of there as quickly as they can,” Delatorre said. “We understand that, so we’ve made it efficient without sacrificing any of our quality.”

Expansion efforts for Florida Medical are not just stopping there. The company has partnered with DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. in building a 12,000-square-foot facility on Eiland Boulevard in Zephyrhills that will serve as both a dialysis center and additional doctor offices.

“Patients will absolutely love this location,” Delatorre said. “We took it off the main road a bit, but it’s easy to get to, will have nice parking, and it’ll have a lot of room.”

When the facility opens in November, it will replace a much smaller dialysis center at Florida Medical’s primary Zephyrhills campus on US 301 just north of CR 54. This new location is just a few miles away, and dialysis patients will now have a chance to avoid some of the wintertime congestion that plagues US 301.

Florida Medical bought the vacant 1.5 acres of land in May for $35,000. It’s the first time the clinic has purchased land in Zephyrhills that is not part of its main campus, which is quickly running out of space. Space is at a premium at the former home of Kmart and Publix in Zephyrhills, especially once Florida Medical completes a $5 million expansion of its urgent care facility.

“It’s already on an outparcel in front of the property, and it’s perfectly located for easy access for our patients,” Delatorre said.

Urgent care is a fast-growing industry, especially as people look for medical resources that are both cost-effective and convenient. The expanded facility — which will double in size to 7,000 square feet — will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

What separates Florida Medical Clinic’s urgent care facility from others is the fact that doctors will have full access to each patient’s electronic medical records, Delatorre said. These records detail everything a patient has had done with any Florida Medical Clinic provider, eliminating the need to duplicate tests, and give an urgent care doctor the full medical picture he or she needs.

“You can’t always get to your existing primary care physician, so we’re providing a quality alternative that still has all the services available, and the overall experience you’re accustomed to with us,” Delatorre said.

The growth of Florida Medical Clinic has been brisk in recent years, first opening a location in Dade City, and then turning its sights south toward Tampa.

The company opened up in Wesley Chapel in 2001, and by 2003, Florida Medical had made significant strides into north Tampa.

Although the Florida Medical Clinic customer service model hasn’t changed, the medical industry has. If a practice isn’t attuned to what’s happening with federal healthcare reform, for example, they may be left struggling to keep up.

“You have to adapt to what’s going on in the marketplace,” Delatorre said. “The reality of it is the Affordable Care Act provides a solution to make sure everyone has basic health insurance. Patients will now have that funding mechanism, and that is a good thing for us. It means more people will want to access our services, and because of that, we can stay in the business of taking care of people.”

Wesley Chapel hospital exceeding expectations in first year

August 28, 2013 By B.C. Manion

When Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel was preparing to open its doors last October, it expected to have 400 employees.

Less than a year later, it has 600.

“For the 600 jobs that we have, we had over 25,000 applicants,” hospital chief executive Brian Adams said last week. “Not all of those applicants, of course, were qualified for roles in health care. But even in nursing, for every one job, we had more than 10 applicants.”

A look at the interior of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. (File photo)

Adams was sharing the news with the economic development committee of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. Having so many applicants means the hospital can really be selective, and focus purely on talent. The Wesley Chapel hospital, for example, has an average of 10 years experience.

And the hospital has outpaced projections in other areas as well. Its 26,000 emergency room visits and 380 baby deliveries are roughly double original expectations, Adams said. Other first-year figures include 3,800 admissions and 1,800 surgeries.

Business owners may wonder if people will travel into Wesley Chapel to get health care, and the answer to that is that they do, Adams said.

“The economic development piece of having a business that not only employs 600 people in the community, but also attracts people into Wesley Chapel, is a real benefit,” he said. “Many of the individuals who now come to Wesley Chapel for care were traveling out of the county for care, so they were going down into Hillsborough County, which means they see physicians in Hillsborough County, which means they stop for lunch on their way to see those physicians in Hillsborough.”

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel sits on 52 acres on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, west of SR 56. It has 83 beds, with the capability expanding to 299.

The hospital itself is three stories now, but can rise to six when the hospital needs more room to handle increasing health care needs, Adams said. And it might be sooner rather than later. Figures by the hospital show population growth in the area between 2.9 percent and 4 percent by 2017.

There are other factors to consider as well beyond just population growth, and that’s something the Wesley Chapel hospital stays cognizant of, Adams said. One is how much health care people are using.

“In this community, it’s going down, mainly because of the shift of cost from employer-based health plans to individual-based health plans,” Adams said.

The age of the population also figures in. In a community like Wesley Chapel, where the population is growing younger, the amount of healthcare used is lower than in a community like Zephyrhills, where the population is older.

The hospital is working to be a good neighbor, and may even reach out to Pasco-Hernando Community College after it opens its Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch in January. The college is taking shape on a site near the intersection of SR 56 and Mansfield Boulevard, not far from the hospital.

“Having PHCC in the community will only benefit all of us,” Adams said. “I’ve had a number of conversations with the leadership at PHCC, and we believe part of our role is to create opportunities for students to learn and grow in a real-life setting.”

That’s common in the medical field, especially in the nursing field, he said. Having PHCC offer a transition to bachelor’s-level nursing can only help surrounding hospitals like Wesley Chapel’s.

Finally, with the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act on the horizon, Adams was optimistic that many pieces of the federal plan will benefit the community.

“People having access to the health care, at the primary care level, is probably the best way to best reduce our overall healthcare spend,” he said. “The most expensive time to care for a patient is when they have reached a point in their health where the intervention takes heavy resources.”

It also means taking steps now to prevent more serious health problems in the future.

“If you can help someone who didn’t have insurance to go to a physician and get their diabetes under control before that diabetes wreaked havoc on their heart, it’s a totally different approach,” Adams said.

But there will also be changes in the way employers handle insurance, by some employers no longer covering spouses that can get insurance elsewhere, and the proliferation of high-deductible health plans as companies try to offer affordable insurance to low-wage employees.

Ultimately, Adams thinks that consumers will drive the need for quality care, especially if they are paying the first $10,000 of their health care costs out-of-pocket due to high deductibles in their insurance plans.

Local invention vying for spot on Walmart store shelves

August 28, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Time is running out for two local medical professionals to get their invention on the shelves of Walmart stores across the country. And they need your help.

BariBowl is an innovative portion control food container developed by Land O’ Lakes-based physician assistant Dezi Zevin and bariatric surgeon Dr. Tiffany Jessee. It’s designed to help anyone managing their nutritional intake for a healthy life, and it’s quickly advancing through Walmart’s “Get it on the Shelf” contest.

Dezi Zevin, a physician assistant based in Land O’ Lakes, shows off the BariBowl, a product she co-created with bariatric surgeon Dr. Tiffany Jessee. The two are in the final stages of getting their invention on the shelves of Walmart through the “Get it on the Shelf” competition. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

BariBowl uses two 4-ounce dishes that can be subdivided right down to 1-ounce portions. It seems simple enough, and Zevin said she was surprised no one else had thought of it before.

“Dr. Jessee does weight-loss surgery, and I was her PA, and we talked about whether there was anything out there that would help patients keep track of their eating after surgery,” Zevin said. “I went home and researched it, and I found nothing. So she said we should come up with something.”

That was 2010, and later that year, both had created a company — BariWare LLC —and had a working prototype going. By 2011, they were manufacturing the BariBowl from a facility in Clearwater. The bowls come in pink, blue and green, and are both microwave and dishwasher safe.

So far, marketing and sales efforts for the BariBowl — which retails at about $20 — have been focused on doctor’s offices, especially those specializing in bariatric surgery. However, the product has a wide range of uses that go beyond that, whether it’s someone managing diabetes, trying to lose weight, and even body builders and athletes.

“I use this for my kids instead of going through the drive-thru at McDonald’s,” Zevin said. “I prepare their meals in the morning, and can use it throughout the day.”

Zevin says she can pack lunch for her kids, and then have a second one ready at the end of the day when she picks them up and takes them to soccer.

Since the product launched, sales have doubled year-over-year. Yet, getting into Walmart could push those numbers right through the roof. For that to happen, it’s going to take votes, however.

Walmart’s “Get on the Shelf” contest features a number of products evaluated by the store’s management staff, and then put up for a public vote to see what consumers might be interested in. The BariBowl was part of the contest last year, but did not advance. And with voting running through Sept. 2, Zevin and Jessee are hoping for a much different result this time.

And even if they do succeed and turn the BariBowl into a booming business, neither plans to give up their day job.

“It would be like a dream come true, and it would be a game changer for both our lives,” said Jessee, who was Florida’s first female bariatric surgeon. “We don’t have the financial ability to do much advertising, so to walk into a store and see your product on a shelf for a national chain, that is just unbelievable.”

Extra profits would be reinvested back into the company, Zevin said, to help them expand the BariBowl line to other complementary products. That could include a larger bowl for those who have to eat more but still want to portion food.

To vote for the BariBowl in the Walmart “Get on the Shelf” competition, visit tinyurl.com/nxsygt7.