When St. Joseph’s Hospital-North opened its doors five years ago, it was the first new hospital built in Hillsborough County in 30 years.
“Our goal was to provide a health care alternative in this community because there really weren’t many alternatives,” said Paula McGuiness, president of the hospital, at 4211 Van Dyke Road in Lutz..
“It was an underdeveloped medical infrastructure, if you will. There weren’t many doctors out here. There certainly wasn’t a hospital,” McGuiness said.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
People needing to go to a hospital had to drive 13 miles or more, she added. “That was why this was built.”
The hospital acquired the land in the 1980s, anticipating a future need, McGuiness said.
Since St. Joseph’s Hospital-North began operations on Feb. 15, 2010, both Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel and Medical Center of Trinity, in neighboring Pasco County, have opened their doors.
“You would think that it would have a big impact on the volume of patients that we see, but, in fact, there has not been much change, overall,” McGuiness said.
More than a half-million people visited a loved one at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North during the hospital’s first five years, and it treated nearly a quarter-million patients.
The hospital’s work force has grown, too.
It began with around 425 employees and now exceeds 575, McGuiness said. Many employees have been there since it opened.
“We have a lot of team members who previously had worked in places like St. Pete and Clearwater, so now, we have provided a close-to-home work environment,” she said.
There’s also a medical office building on the property, housing physicians from a wide array of specialty areas.
The hospital has an ambulance service and a helipad, enabling it to transport patients to other facilities when necessary.
In fact, when St. Joseph’s Hospital-North was planning to move into Lutz, one of the most controversial aspects was its intention to have a helipad.
“People were concerned we were going to be bringing in helicopters to be a port here. We’re not transporting in. What we do is we do transfer out,” McGuiness said.
The hospital was built with comfort in mind, for both patients and their families.
“The aesthetics don’t make the care, but they are a kind of backdrop for the kind of care that we provide,” McGuiness said. “If you can provide an ambience, an environment that is soothing and restful and doesn’t have that sterile, stereotypic hospital feel, then you can support the health and well-being of individuals that come here.”
Along those lines, the hospital’s common areas are spacious and inviting, and all patient rooms are private.
The patient rooms are designed with the notion that family members would be active participants in their loved one’s care, McGuiness said.
“Even with the ICU (intensive care unit), we allow the family to stay in the room with the patient during their stay, if that’s what they desire,” McGuiness said. “It’s not just the patient, it is the family that needs that type of support.”
In terms of construction, the hospital was built to accommodate future expansion.
It also was designed with the environment and energy conservation in mind.
St. Joseph’s Hospital-North was the first acute hospital in Florida to be LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design)-registered by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The hospital has technology that is designed to support quality patient care, in a secure environment.
It was the first hospital in Baycare Health System to be almost entirely paperless.
The electronic medical records represent a significant technological move forward in the arena of patient care, McGuiness said. The records give doctors access to a patient’s medical history.
“No matter the event — whether you’re able to say what your history has been or not — we’re going to be able to access that (information) for you and take care of you,” McGuiness said.
The hospital surgical services include ear, nose and throat; gastrointestinal, gynecological, orthopedic, podiatry, urology and plastics, in case of reconstructions necessary from trauma.
Early on, it added a labor and delivery unit.
“When we first opened, we didn’t have a mom-baby and labor and delivery unit set up. We were still working with our physicians to bring them onboard.
“So, it was about nine months before we delivered the program,” McGuiness said. So far, more than 1,700 babies have been born there.
On another front, “we’ve added oncology infusion services, which is a big deal for us,” McGuiness said.
“Obviously, we have the cancer institute at the (St. Joseph’s Hospital) main campus (in Tampa), but this is a feeder.
“It’s not a great time when someone is going through chemo, and to be able to have the service so close to home, I think, makes a difference. At least, that’s what our patients say,” McGuiness said.
Besides providing medical care, the hospital also has become part of the community’s fabric in other ways, too, McGuiness said.
She’s especially pleased by that community partnership.
One way it connects is through its educational programs, she said.
“In the five years, we’ve provided over 500 educational classes,” she said. They can be as simple as CPR, childbirth classes or safe-sitter program.
But there’s also a whole lecture series, provided by physicians, to help people with medical issues.
“At different points of your life, you’re interested in different things: Your hip replacements, your knee replacements,” McGuiness said. “We have those kinds of sessions. Our doctors do that as a voluntary service for the community.”
The quality of food in the hospital’s café also made it an attractive place for people to meet and eat, she said.
It’s not unusual for people from nearby Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church to have meetings at the hospital, or to come by after Sunday services for brunch.
McGuiness welcomes those visitors.
“That just reinforces how much of a part of that fabric of the community that you are,” she said.
St. Joseph’s Hospital-North 5th anniversary
When: April 11, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, 4211 Van Dyke Road in Lutz
Who: All are welcome
What: Children’s activities; health and wellness demonstrations and speakers; baby play area; a reunion of babies born at the hospital with the doctors and nurses who cared for them; food trucks; wellness screenings; live entertainment; a teddy bear clinic (bring your own teddy bear patient); and, judging of a baby photo contest the hospital conducted on its Facebook page throughout March.
Pre-registration is not required, but is appreciated. Please call (813) 644-6772.
By the numbers
St. Joseph’s Hospital-North began treating patients on Feb. 15, 2010. Since then, more than a half-million people have visited the facility.
The hospital has:
- Delivered more than 1,700 babies
- Treated nearly 220,000 patients
- Logged 15,284 volunteer service hours
- Performed 13,783 surgeries
- Completed 9,010 endoscopies
Published April 8, 2015
