Saturday, January 14, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. — we hope you’ll check out the “Light Up the Night” event to raise awareness of and combat human trafficking which is being co-sponsored by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) and the Shops at Wiregrass mall.
The event starts with the “Radiant 5K” road race, which will kick off from Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch at 4 p.m. An awards ceremony will be held immediately following the race at the mall, which also will host the Light Up the Night “Main Event,” starting at 6 p.m., with music, lots of great educational information and a great Kids Zone.
Proceeds from the 5K race will benefit four nonprofit organizations fighting human trafficking, including Bridging Freedom (logo above), the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking, The Porch Light and Redefining Refuge.
Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning knew heading into a months-long school rezoning process in Wesley Chapel — which was going to move students to the new Cypress Creek Middle/High School on Old Pasco Rd., as well as relieve overcrowding elsewhere — that he was going to be facing some upset parents.
He expected a few emails, some phone calls, maybe even a jeer or two at some of the public meetings. What he didn’t expect, however, was the intensity of the vitriol directed his way. “I think the personal attacks are tough,” Browning says. “I’m a pretty thick-skinned kind of guy, but still, it’s hard to read.”
Browning doesn’t read a lot of the things written about him on Facebook, and when an email turns sour with profanity, he immediately discards it.
“I’m okay with harsh words, I’m okay with tough facts, and people being unhappy with me, I get that,’’ he says. “But when you start using profane language and start personally attacking me based on things that have nothing to do with rezoning, (that’s where I draw the line).”
In the Wesley Chapel process, Browning’s decision to step in and recommend Option 13 over Option 20, which was selected after months of meetings of the School Boundary Committee (SBC) as well as parents, has only intensified the hard feelings towards him.
“I have a hard time with (Option) 20, because it moves more students and it moves them multiple times,’’ Browning said.
How seriously are parents in Wesley Chapel taking the boundary process and Browning’s entry into it?
One emailer wrote, “May God have mercy on your souls.”
“The level to which it has escalated is surprising,’’ Browning says.
On Dec. 20, the School Board tentatively approved Option 13 for the 2017-18 school year, which moves students from Country Walk and parts of Meadow Pointe IV from Dr. John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) to a zone where they will now attend Thomas E. Weightman Middle School and Wesley Chapel High (WCH).
On Tuesday, January 17, the last public hearing will be held at the county School District office before the final vote takes place.
Though once a seemingly smooth process, the shifting opinions and recommendations, as well as the high-running emotions of parents, has thrown it into disarray.
Originally, the School Boundary Committee (SBC) had selected Option 12. That triggered a large protest in the form of a parent’s town hall that drew more than 1,000 Wesley Chapel residents — many of them wearing anti-12 shirts and lobbying hard for Option 20, which rezoned all of Seven Oaks for Weightman and WCH but preserved the current zones for Union Park, Country Walk and Meadow Pointe III & IV.
On Dec. 2, the SBC ditched Option 12 and settled on a final recommendation of Option 20, setting off more fiery responses in Wesley Chapel, as we reported in our Dec. 16 issue.
“That’s when I came in and started looking with the staff at the number of times students would have to move,’’ Browning says, adding that he was concerned that, under Option 20, some students could end up rezoned three different times as the Wesley Chapel area continues to expand.
“That’s when I made the recommendation to the School Board that we go back to the middle ground and Option 13, which keeps Seven Oaks at Wiregrass Ranch,’’ Browning says. “But, the line has to go someplace.”
Browning’s decision to step into the process was met with still more anger from people. Many parents were incensed that after a long process involving a committee of school principals, parents and county administrators, Browning intervened and essentially overruled all of their work.
The Conspiracy Theories
Although they existed before, Browning’s involvement has only heightened the number of conspiracies floating around the boundary process, including one alleging special relationships between Browning and Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore, who lives in Seven Oaks and has children attending Pasco public schools.
“I’ve been accused of all kinds of things,’’ Browning says, adding that he has, “never had a private meeting or a private conversation with anyone from Seven Oaks, or Country Walk, or Union Park, or anywhere else when it comes to rezoning.”
Browning calls Moore a friend, but adds that they don’t socialize. He says he has discussed impact fees with the commissioner, because eventually the decision will come before the BCC, which Moore chairs, but nothing about rezoning.
Moore, whose wife Lauren works at WCH, said that any claims that he interfered with the process are ludicrous. “I have no problem sending my kids to any school in Wesley Chapel,’’ Moore says. “Other than that, I haven’t been involved at all.”
Browning says that he injected himself into the process only after the SBC changed their mind twice. He said he reached out to the District’s director of planning Chris Williams, and asked him to explain why the committee went from Option 12 to 20.
They met, looked over numbers and maps, and Browning says that he felt strongly that Option 13 met more of the goals of drawing new boundaries.
“I knew as soon as I made that decision, that there was going to be a lot of backlash to it,’’ Browning says. “I am very respectful of the committees that do the work for the District…very respectful of that process. But also, there’s a law out there that says the superintendent is responsible for the efficient operation of the school district. Efficiency is everything anymore because of the dollars that we get or don’t get from Tallahassee to operate a district as large as the one we operate.”
That efficiency includes keeping costs down. With the county already strapped for cash, moving school portables, which currently house the overflow of students at many schools, can leave a financial mark.
“Under my recommendation, Option 13, we don’t have to move as many portables as under 20,’’ Browning says. “That’s a huge factor. It costs us $30,000 a portable just to move them.”
Another consideration by Browning was ending the 10-day school periods WRH students have been operating on since 2015.
Option 13, Browning says, eases overcrowding at WRH, which is currently operating at 168 percent capacity, or 1,025 students over it’s original cap of 1,633.
“I will tell you, Wiregrass Ranch is not going to be on a 10-period day next year, or the next year,’’ Browning says. “We’ve got enough students out of Wiregrass Ranch this coming year, a drop of 450-500 kids, to get it off the 10-period day.”
The Impact Fee Solution?
The bigger problem for Browning and students in Wesley Chapel, however, is the rapid growth of the area. Put simply, there are too many students for the number of middle and high schools in Wesley Chapel, so building another one — a new middle school on the current Cypress Creek Middle/High School campus — is paramount.
But , Browning says the funds aren’t there for the likely cost of roughly $70-million. The School Board has decided to ask the Pasco Board of County Commissioners to double the county’s school impact fees, which are charged on newly built homes to pay for new classrooms, from the current $4,800 to $9,174 per single family home.
The impact fee started out as a $1,651 charge in 2001 and has been adjusted twice. It now stands at $4,800 per single-family home, and hasn’t changed since 2008. An attempt to lower that figure in 2011 was defeated by a 3-2 vote by the BCC.
“It needs to double,’’ Browning said, citing a recent study by the county’s consultants. “I’m saying we need the $9,000.”
Browning says there is no capital money to put into new school construction. The Penny for Pasco tax voters approved only allows that money to be spent for technology enhancements, renovations and remodeling. “So, we’re kind of hogtied a little bit,’’ Browning adds.
If doubled, the impact fees could generate another $125 million over the next 10 years for new schools, including the construction of Cypress Creek Middle School. The best-case scenario would mean a new school could be built in four years.
“If we are successful in getting the impact fees increased to the level that will generate enough dollars quickly enough, the first school that we will probably want to look at would be the new Cypress Creek Middle School,’’ Browning says. “And, what that will allow us to do is literally open up 1,000 seats at Cypress Creek Middle/High.”
That would trigger another rezoning, and students living in Seven Oaks would attend the new schools.
“I think Seven Oaks is put on notice that when we open that middle school, they’re going to be rezoned to Cypress Creek,” Browning says.
Rezoning is the nature of the beast in high development areas. Browning hears from a lot of out-of-state transplants who have never been through a rezoning process. He says many of them attended the same schools their parents and grandparents did.
“I tell them that’s because they lived in a neighborhood that was built out or not growing,’’ Browning says. “In Florida, when you look at the vast expanse of space, and Pasco County is right in the crosshairs of development, that’s (not going to happen).”
There are no easy answers, and no way to make everyone happy, Browning says. But the questions — he says he sees those every day as he drives from Meadow Pointe Blvd. to Little Rd. on the other side of the county — in the form of new rooftops.
“I jokingly tell people I drive that stretch of road with my eyes closed, because I don’t want to see all the rooftops, knowing there’s going to be kids under many of those rooftops. My question is, rhetorically, where am I going to put them?”
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) is virtually ready for another grand opening. Oops. Make that ready for a virtual grand opening.
After drawing an estimated crowd of 8,000 people to its initial Grand Opening in 2012, FHWC is set to unveil its new $78-million, 118,000-sq.-ft. expansion to the general public via social media. FHWC marketing director Tracy Clouser says that because the hospital now has patients being treated everywhere, it isn’t possible to allow thousands to stroll through the corridors, checking out the new rooms and advances in technology.
However, everyone can still attend the Grand Opening of the expansion virtually, via both YouTube and Facebook, on Monday, February 6, 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Clouser says the public will even be given the opportunity to ask questions of FHWC CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb.
“We’ll be showcasing some of the areas people wouldn’t ordinarily get to see,’’ Clouser said during an interview with Neighborhood News editor Gary Nager for the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce Featured Business Segment on WCNT-tv, which hit YouTube on Jan. 6. She added that those who RSVP will get the first look at some of the expansion that is expected to even further enhance the hospital’s standing in the local (see pg 3) and medical community.
FHWC, constructed in the shape of a “W” with North, Center and South wings, is doubling the size of the Center wing, which now has six floors instead of the original three. A three-story connector wing, called the “Southeast Connector,” between the Center and South wings, also is nearly complete.
The extra floors will allow the hospital to expand from 83 private patient rooms to 143.
Emergency room space also is nearly doubling, from 18 rooms to 35. That may be the best news for area residents, as even the influx of urgent care centers in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa hasn’t stopped the FHWC emergency rooms from overflowing some days.
Clouser said there was no true original timetable to expand, but the top brass with FHWC’s parent company, the Adventist Health System originally estimated there would be a need for expansion within 5-7 years when FHWC first opened. But, the unrelenting brisk business at the hospital hastened the need for expansion to within only three years.
“We have been very, very busy,’’ Clouser says. “Obviously, there has been a need in this area for quality healthcare close to home for (local) people.”
Even More Technology
The new patient rooms at FHWC are Cerner Smart Rooms, which offer better workflows for hospital personnel, with instant bedside access to real-time data for doctors, while providing better communication between patients, their providers and visitors.
Visitors will be able to see if the patient is with their doctor, resting or does not want to be disturbed before entering the room, while FHWC staff will know, for example, which of their patients have allergies or are fall risks.
“It’s all right at their fingertips outside the room,’’ Clouser says, adding that the older rooms at FHWC will be retrofitted with the Cerner technology as well.
The new rooms also have the Get Well Network, another technology that bridges the gap between patients and doctors and empowers patients and their caregivers to participate in their healthcare. It also helps track the care patients are receiving — like dosages of medicine or blood tests — while they may be sleeping, right down to knowing when hospital personnel are washing and sanitizing their hands.
Clouser also said that some of the expansion already has been completed. A second heart catheterization lab opened in March, and a new wing with 20 additional beds in the Southeast wing opened in October. That third-floor wing will be an all-women’s wing when all of the other new rooms have opened, all expected by the end of this month or early in February.
The majority of the new rooms and technologies will be on the new fifth and sixth floors. Clouser also said that, for now, the fourth floor will remain as shell space, until future growth dictates adding 24 more patient rooms. Until then, the fourth floor will feature conference and classrooms that will host many of the free community health and wellness programs FHWC currently hosts at the hospital’s adjacent Wellness Center.
Clouser also noted that the expansion, which will be completed by the end of the month or early in February, will attract new physicians offering new procedures, since FHWC will now have more space in the new operating rooms. “That means new treatments, new services and new programs,’’ Clouser says.
Doctors also will soon have access to the MAKO platform, which is a robotic-arm-assisted system that can perform orthopaedic surgeries like partial knee or hip replacements. FHWC also has the daVinci System, another robotic-assisted device that specializes in minimally invasive surgery, such as removing a gall bladder or performing a hysterectomy through a patient’s belly button.
“We are the only site in Pasco County able to do that,’’ Clouser said “Surgeons like it because it’s minimally invasive, there’s less scarring, less pain, shorter recovery times and less blood.”
FHWC also will feature a tech room that allows doctors to enter via keyboard the patient’s name and type of surgery being performed, prompting a shelf to open up that provides all of the tools needed to perform that particular operation.
To RSVP for the virtual FHWC expansion Grand Opening, please visit FHInspiredByYou.com. The event will be on YouTube and Facebook, on Mon., Feb. 6, 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Check out the drone footage and much more inside FHWC from Brad Hall Studios on Episode 14 of WCNT-tv on YouTube now!
In our 2016 Reader Dining Survey & Contest, more than 500 readers submitted surveys ranking their favorite restaurants in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, category by category.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out an entry form. Look for my restaurant favorites in our next issue and for some of these listings to appear on future episodes of WCNT-tv.
Your Favorite Japanese/Sushi Restaurants In NT & WC
Kobe Japanese Steak House is No. 1 in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel.
1. Kobe Japanese Steakhouse
2. Yamato Japanese Steakhouse
3. Bonsai Sushi
4. Koizi Endless Hibachi & Sushi
5. Sushi Café
6. Hibachi Express
7. Sukhothai
8. Asian Buffet
9. Ginza Endless Sushi
10. Fong’s Sushi (formerly Sushi Raw)
*-Takara Sushi & sake finished 8th, but has since gone out of business
Doctor of Pharmacy Shahida Choudhry (left) and pharmacy technician Naivis Valdes promise great prices and customer service at the Palms Pharmacy in the Shoppes at The Pointe in Tampa Palms.
Until I interviewed her for this story, I had never met Shahida Choudhry, Pharm.D., the primary pharmacist at the new Palms Pharmacy, which has been open for a few months in The Shoppes at The Pointe plaza in Tampa Palms (between Ciccio Cali and Stonewood Grill & Tavern).
But, meeting this genuinely sweet, high-energy fellow New Yawka (she’s originally from Brooklyn) at her place of business for the first time felt more like reconnecting with an old friend than it did a story interview.
The New Tampa resident says that she and her family relocated to Florida a few years after she graduated with her Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree from Long Island University in Brooklyn.
“And, what I saw was that the big chain pharmacies dominated the market here, even though their prices aren’t really that great and they can’t offer the level of service that a small, neighborhood pharmacy like ours can,” Shahida says. “Unlike those big chains, we are community-based and focus on each of our patients’ specific needs and requirements. We want to partner with you to help assist you in providing the best care and attention you deserve.”
The Palms Pharmacy, which also includes pharmacy technician Naivis Valdes, helps you feel at home with its warm, earthy decor and truly competitive pricing that those big chains should be able to match on your over-the-counter (OTC) medications and prescriptions, but they choose not to do so.
So, how does a small, neighborhood pharmacy compete on price? Shahida says that she has found a great wholesaler who makes sure that her prices beat or are at least on a par with what you can find at the large superstores, without the long lines and colorful clientele you’ll find at those impersonal department store-type locations.
And, although the Palms Pharmacy is still adding new items all the time — especially those that their customers demand — Shahida delivers on her price promise, at least based on my experience so far.
I selected four over-the-counter items available at Palms Pharmacy that I buy fairly regularly and compared the store’s prices to those at one of the national chains located just up the street. As it turns out, not only was the pricing better at Palms Pharmacy, I believe that it would be worth paying the same or a little more in order to get the caring, personalized service with a smile that every customer at Palms Pharmacy receives.
I started with 100 caplets of Extra Strength Tylenol. The local chain’s price was $9.99 for Tylenol and $7.99 for the chain’s own generic equivalent. The Tylenol was a little more expensive at the Palms Pharmacy, but the generic equivalent cost only $3.59, or less than half of the generic cost at the chain.
The next item I selected was the Mucinex 1200 mg (of guaifenesin), which was on sale at the chain store for $13.99 (reduced from the $17.29 regular price) for 14 tablets. The same item’s regular price at the Palms Pharmacy was just $13.09, a 90-cent savings over the chain store’s sale price.
All of the items I selected cost less at Palms Pharmacy than they did at the chain and Shahida says she has no plans to add foodstuffs, greeting cards and other items that you don’t need to buy ata “drug store.”
“The only items we’re adding are those OTC medications and natural probiotic-type products that our customers request,” she says. As an example, I told her that although the store had a nice selection of liquid tears, I didn’t see the brands of contact lens rewetting drops I like and she said she would be happy to add them.
“We’ve purposely left some space on our shelves for customer requests,” Shahida says. “We want you to know that this truly is your neighborhood pharmacy.”
More Than Just OTC Meds
In addition to OTC medications and health care items, the Palms Pharmacy also has a very competitively priced selection of not just vitamins, but also probiotics and other nutritional supplements (top photo on next page), many of which are free of gluten and other allergens, for adults and children. There’s also flavored medications available for children and pets and yes, the Palms Pharmacy also compounds medications in the store.
Speaking of those healthy options, if I were you, I’d ask Shahida and Naivis for a sample of the all-natural ZumBar soaps (right), which claim that if they were, “Any more natural, you’d be naked.”
And, if you’re into aromatherapy, the Palms Pharmacy carries the complete Now Essential Oils line. You’ll also find infertility supplements and diabetic supplies. Palms Pharmacy also offers local delivery of your medications and other purchases and accepts major insurance plans. Shahida even promises easy prescription transfers for those who would prefer to relax and enjoy a free cup of coffee if there is a wait, rather than wait in line with the masses.
For info about the Palms Pharmacy (17008 Palm Pointe Dr), which is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., call 252-9063, visit ThePalmsPharmacy.com or see the ad on page 14 of this issue. The store is a member business of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce and held a WCCC ribbon cutting a few months ago.
Saturday, January 14, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. — we hope you’ll check out the “Light Up the Night” event to raise awareness of and combat human trafficking which is being co-sponsored by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) and the Shops at Wiregrass mall.
