Month: May 2025

NTBC Ribbon Cutting Opened The State-Of-The-Art, 45,000-Sq.-Ft. Cancer Center In Wiregrass Ranch On May 15! 

 Although the Angeline community in Land O’Lakes is getting what will be the largest cancer treatment and research center in Florida — the sprawling, 775-acre “Speros FL” Moffitt Cancer Center campus with 16 million square feet of lab, office, manufacturing and clinical space, the new Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) building on the south side of S.R. 56 in Wiregrass Ranch gives the Wesley Chapel area two major cancer centers (the other is the 28,000 sq. ft. being occupied by the Moffitt Cancer Center at Wesley Chapel in the 100,000-sq.-ft. Healing Plaza building adjacent to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel). 

But, the 45,000-sq.-ft. FCS building, located only 3.5 miles from the AdventHealth/ Moffitt center, is now the largest cancer treatment facility in Wesley Chapel. 

FCS cut the ribbon (in conjunction with the North Tampa Bay Chamber, or NTBC) to officially open the new state-of-the-art treatment center on May 15, as the location’s VP of operations Samantha (Sam) Watkins introduced director of patient advocacy (and Board-certified oncologist and hematologist) Richard McDonough, M.D. (holding scissors in the photo on this page), who introduced several of his colleagues, including medical oncologist Dr. Ayman Barakat, radiation oncologist Dr. Bradford Perez and GYN (gynecologic) oncologist Dr. Jessica Stine to the crowd of more than 100 people, many of whom were FCS doctors, staff members and administrators. 

Watkins mentioned that the new FCS clinic will include five medical oncologists and hematologists, two radiation oncologists, six advance practice nursing providers and a “dedicated group of clinicians and support staff.” 

Watkins also provided a lot of the basic information about FCS in general, including that in 2024, FCS celebrated its 40th anniversary of cancer care in the Sunshine State, when FCS treated more than 102,000 new patients and provided more than 4.2 million clinic visits. 

“One statistic that I find incredible,” Watkins said, “is that 67 percent of all Floridians live within 20 miles of an FCS center, which serves our mission of being in the community.” 

And, although Moffitt is still the highest-rated cancer treatment center overall in Florida, FCS also ranks among the top-performing oncology practices and offers more clinical trials than any other private oncology practice in Florida. And, according to Dr. Barakat (see more from him below), the new Wiregrass Ranch location should soon be hosting clinical trials of its own. 

Watkins noted, “More than 150 clinical trials are [being conducted] at our 29 locations across the state…. With our expanded capabilities to provide state-of-the-art genetic testing, our physicians are able to design treatment plans with the utmost precision and provide truly personalized medicine, which translates into better outcomes for our patients.” 

Meanwhile, Dr. McDonough said, “My colleagues and I share a passion and dedication to a singular goal to provide our patients with the most advanced treatments possible that are personalized to the unique needs of what they have. We try to minimize the disruption [to their lives] by making sure we are closer to where they live and that the patient can get the care with the support people and community around them, and really to be a big part of driving the best outcomes for our patients.” 

Dr. Barakat provided some additional statistics about the new FCS facility, and the difference between the new building and the original Wesley Chapel location that opened in 2019. “We only had four exam rooms and seven infusion chairs,” he said. “But now, we have 32 exam rooms, 62 infusion chairs, and offer expert treatment for all forms of cancer and blood disorders. We have an on-site lab, our own oncology pharmacy care coordinator, services with patient assistance through our generous foundation, and, of course, access to the most advanced and promising treatment through clinical trials, which hopefully we should be planning to start in this building very shortly.” 

Dr. Perez, a lifelong Tampa native, talked about the team approach to patient care at FCS. 

“One of the things about FCS is that it does give us the opportunity to work together as part of a multidisciplinary oncology team and as a radiation oncologist you know I’m really glad to have an opportunity to work with the medical oncologists here at FCS. This location has state-of-the-art equipment, like the Varian TrueBeamTM machine, which does precise, stereotactic radiation treatments.” 

Dr. Perez also noted that, “Wesley Chapel is a big growth area, so it’s great to be able to provide great care for patients, with the most advanced technology, where people are moving and living.” 

Next, Dr. Stine said that when she joined FCS four years ago, “My goal was to bring GYN oncology, which is a unique specialty that doesn’t have a lot of growth outside of city centers, to areas where patients really needed to have access to high-quality care. I felt that it was really kind of a shame that patients [in suburban areas] had to essentially go to the ‘ivory tower’ to get their surgeries and the care they needed.” 

She added, “We are also very excited to announce that we will be expanding the GYN oncology program within FCS with Dr. Heather Miller, who is actually joining us locally from her very thriving practice in the Brandon and Tampa Bay market. She will be caring for our patients here in Wesley Chapel and in North Tampa as well.” 

The final speaker before the ribbon cutting was NTBC president & CEO Hope Kennedy, who said, “It is an honor to be here with you today. We broke ground in 2019, right before the pandemic, on a cold, windy day. We saw the renderings of what this [facility] was going to be. We could not be more honored to be here by your side. The community is here to support you. We thank you for your investment, not only in this beautiful building, but also for the service you provide to our community.” 

FCS (2895 Hueland Pond Blvd.) is open every weekday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. For more info, call (813) 279-7107 or visit FLCancer.com.