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.
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
