In the year since it opened on Sept. 14 of last year, the AdventHealth Care Pavilion at Hunter’s Green has served many people looking for a modern, convenient way to meet their primary health care needs.
Located on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. just south of Cross Creek Blvd. in front of Hunter’s Green, the Care Pavilion offers a reimagined experience to make going to the doctor easier, with a lot less hassle.
The 50,000-sq.-ft. building houses primary care, on-site labs and imaging, and an expanding list of specialties. Patients sign in one time at the concierge Welcome Center and don’t need to go anywhere else. An in-house pharmacy means patients can leave with their prescriptions already in hand.
“Our strategy was two years in the making to really think through what people want,” says John Johannessen, senior executive officer of non-acute care in AdventHealth’s West Florida division. “People don’t like going to doctors. You go because you’re sick and you want to be healthy. But, if people went more often for regular checkups and physicals, things could be addressed early and not become (more) serious conditions.”
So, AdventHealth tried to take away many of the frustrations that are typical of a visit to the doctor’s office, such as scheduling way in advance, crowded waiting rooms with a long wait for the doctor, and filling out pages and pages of forms.
The Care Pavilion is open for early morning appointments, evening hours, and even all day Saturday, for flexibility and convenience.
Johannessen says AdventHealth is adding advanced practitioners and physicians to the location, in order to be sure they can accommodate the number of people who visit.
While appointments are available for patients who prefer them, you can walk right in and expect to be seen in a reasonable amount of time. You may not get to see your favorite doctor — whose schedule might be already filled for the day — but there will be someone available to see you in a timely manner.
“Walk-in doesn’t mean extended wait,” Johannessen explains. “We are monitoring demand and want people to understand that ‘just walk in’ doesn’t mean I’m going to sit and wait three hours.”
Johannessen adds that another perk of the Care Pavilion is that patients won’t be asked to fill out forms over and over again. Online registration and communication through a patient portal and app mean communication when the office and its services are available at your fingertips.
“My personal experience is that I went into the Care Pavilion for lab work and had the results that night,” he says. “Six hours later, I could access all my results in the patient portal.”
He says technology continues to evolve, but the at-your-fingertips convenience of lab results, prescription refills, and other services are appreciated by the Care Pavilion’s patients.
Entering The ‘Kid Zone’
For parents, another inconvenience of going to the doctor can be having to bring children along and keep them entertained. But, the AdventHealth Care Pavilion has a solution for that, too.
The office offers an on-site “Kids Club,” where up to eight children at a time are cared for, while their parent is seeing a doctor in the building.
“We call it our ‘Kid Zone,’” Johannessen says. “It’s not a daycare center, but is equipped with trained staff while people are getting services at the building. You can drop your child off and go get your medical care taken care of.”
He says that the Care Pavilion does not charge any fee for the Kid Zone, which follows strict safety measures, such as procedures for registering and releasing children, and doors are kept locked for security.
“The feedback I’ve gotten is that kids want to come back,” Johannessen says. “It’s a convenience tool that we have, to try to make it a little easier when (a parent needs) care.”
And, while Johannessen says the Care Pavilion is not an urgent care center, it is structured in a way that patients can receive all of the care they would get in an urgent care facility.
Since opening a year ago, the AdventHealth Care Pavilion at Hunter’s Green already has expanded to add dermatology to its available services.
“It’s a challenging need,” Johannessen says. “You live in Florida — the Sunshine State — and it can take such a long time to get in and see a dermatologist.”
Being that it’s a new specialty in the building, the Care Pavilion currently has capacity for people to see a dermatologist fairly quickly. See the contact information at the end of this article to schedule a specialty appointment.
The Care Pavilion still has room to grow, and Johannessen says further expansion is being considered, especially centered around primary care needs.
“We’re having conversations with a dental practice, ophthalmology, and audiology,” he explains, “and (we’re) also considering physical therapy services.”
He says the company’s focus will continue to be on convenience, as well as patient experience and satisfaction.
“We hope that people would start to accept the Care Pavilion as a first choice for primary needs,” he says. “If you have any primary care need, this center has all of the tools to get everything you need in one place.”
The AdventHealth Care Pavilion at Hunter’s Green is located at 8702 Hunter’s Lake Dr. It’s open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, call (813) 467-4700 or visit AdventHealthCarePavilion.com.
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