Baycare Breaks Ground On Second WC Hospital

The new BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel (rendering above) should be completed by 2023, which means Wesley Chapel will have two hospitals within two miles of each other on BBD Blvd.

Wesley Chapel may be known for its growth and burgeoning housing and restaurant markets, but by 2023, it also will be home to two major hospitals.

On Dec. 2, BayCare held a cere-monial groundbreaking event — construction had already previously begun — before a small crowd of BayCare executives, local politicians and invited community members.

The 86-bed, state-of-the-art hospital is scheduled to be completed in early 2023. According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, planned are 30 medical/surgical inpatient beds, 12 critical care inpatient beds and 10 emergency department beds. 

“While 2020 has been an unprecedented year for health care that has called for tough decisions and creative solutions, we are grateful to celebrate the long-term goals that brought us to this moment,” said BayCare Chairman of the Board Eric Obeck at the ribbon cutting. “I’m proud to be part of an organization that keeps setting the pace, even as we react to the coronavirus’ impact on our daily business.”

The new hospital will be located at the northwest corner of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Boulevard and Eagleston Blvd. in Seven Oaks, which is just two miles north of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, which opened as Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel in 2012.

BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel will offer comprehensive medical services and health care resources, including an emergency department, an intensive care unit with virtual-monitoring beds, diagnostic services such as an imaging department and lab, as well as physical rehabilitation.

BayCare also touts the jobs the new facility will bring to Pasco County. Roughly 500 combined employees will work on constructing the 318,000-square-foot hospital, and then staffing it. According to BayCare, it is investing $246 million in Pasco County.

“Across our system, it is the nearly 30,000 people who work here that make BayCare a great place to work,” said BayCare executive vice president and chief operating officer Glenn Waters. “At the same time, we are proud our patient outcomes are among the best as well.”  

BayCare purchased 34.6 acres of the planned new site for $15 million in 2006, and then paid $6.67 million for an adjoining 19.9-acre parcel in 2007, for a combined $21.67 million.

Also in 2007, BayCare purchased an 18.25-acres parcel of land across Eagleston and west of BBD in Wiregrass Ranch for $9.4 million, opening the door for possible expansion.

The company originally met with county planners in 2018, looking to build a 60-bed acute care hospital on an 111-acre site it had planned to acquire in the northeast quadrant of the future I-75 exit at Overpass Rd. — construction of which has not yet begun.

“To the leaders here planning new construction in the midst of a pandemic, I thank you,” Waters said. “To the elected officials who have joined us today and who are balancing so many unforeseen challenges this year, I thank you. And, to the local community members who have endured a year like no other, I thank you. We look forward to getting to know each other as BayCare grows along with Pasco County.”

Library Gets $1 Million For Design

A rendering of the new library planned near Seven Oaks Elementary.

The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) has okayed $1 million for the design of Wesley Chapel’s second library.

The consent item sailed through with barely a discussion at the BCC meeting on Dec. 8.

The roughly 20,000-sq.-ft. library is expected to be built in front of Seven Oaks Elementary, off of Mystic Oaks Blvd., inside the Seven Oaks community. The land already is owned by Pasco County and was set aside in 2014 as part of the development agreement for the Seven Oaks DRI with the intention that  it would one day house a Pasco County library.

“I think this is a huge deal,” says District 2 County Commissioner Mike Moore, who represents much of Wesley Chapel and is a Seven Oaks resident. “This is the fastest-growing area of Pasco County, and when you have more residents, you have more needs.”

Wesley Chapel’s only existing library — the New River Branch Library on S.R. 54 near Zephyrhills — although it has been closed for the past year while undergoing a major renovation.

Moore said the designer of the new library should be chosen by summer 2021, but the construction bidding process and permitting ensures the library won’t be finished until late 2024, or early 2025.

Moore has said the whole project could cost roughly $10 million.

“This will be a lot more convenient (for many Wesley Chapel residents),” Moore says. “The needs of the community have changed. It’s not just about books. It’s also about the ‘maker spaces,’ meeting rooms and a safe place for kids to congregate, whether they are reading a book or on a computer. This won’t be your old school library.”

Pasco County Libraries has put a lot of effort into reimagining their existing libraries. The New River Branch Library is getting an improved community garden and covered learning space, while others have woodworking and sewing workshops, music studios and even a robotics lab.

“It’s way too early to say what this new one will have,” Moore says. “It might be a new technology that hasn’t even been invented yet. A lot can happen in three years.”

FDOT Making Tweaks To Help Ease Logjam at I-75/56

The work around the junction of S.R. 56 and I-75 is beginning to show some progress, as efforts pick up to finish the Diverging Diamond Interchange by the end of 2021.(Photo: FDOT).

If you’ve been by the construction site of the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) at the junction of I-75 and S.R. 56, you may have noticed a difference from past trips.

More machines. More workers. More dirt being moved.

Just over a month after Pasco County commissioners, particularly District 2 Commissioner Mike Moore (whose district includes much of Wesley Chapel), criticized the efforts of D.A.B. Constructors, Inc. — and expressed disappointment that the project would not finish on time — the work has clearly picked up in the area.

“There has been significant improvement,” Moore says. “I want to thank D.A.B. and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for getting this back on schedule.”

Moore said he met with both D.A.B. and FDOT, and as a result, he is feeling more confident that the project will finish closer to its original finishing date of sometime in the fall of 2021, as opposed to fears construction would stretch well into 2022.

“I feel good about what I heard,” Moore said.

The $33-million project also had drawn the ire of more than 20 local businesses, who signed a letter to Moore and District 3 Commissioner Kathryn Starkey expressing concern about the progress.

Community outreach manager John McShaffrey says FDOT has continued to look for opportunities to move the project forward, “including working with the contractor on alternate materials, construction phasing, and other ways to shorten the construction duration.”

With traffic thicker than usual due to the holidays, there aren’t too many things FDOT can do to ease congestion right now, although it is suggesting alternate routes to get in and out of the Tampa Premium Outlets and Cypress Creek Town Center areas. FDOT also has made efforts to assist in traffic flow since before Thanksgiving by:

 * Adding message boards on S.R. 56 westbound advising drivers to use the next two signals (the entrance off S.R. 56 and the entrance off the Wesley Chapel Blvd. extension) to enter the outlet mall.

* Adding message boards on S.R. 54 eastbound advising that drivers can turn right where Wesley Chapel Blvd. meets S.R. 56 to enter the outlet mall.

* Setting traffic signals to “holiday timing” (a common practice near mall areas) to maximize traffic flow.

* Adding message boards on southbound I-75, north of the S.R. 54 Exit 279, to encourage traffic to use the S.R. 54 exit to avoid backups on the Exit 275 ramp to S.R. 56.

* Adjusting the setup of the barrier wall on the southbound I-75 exit ramp to give a little more space for drivers turning right (westbound) onto SR 56.

* Installing additional cameras for FDOT’s traffic management staff to better monitor traffic at all of the signalized intersections.