Category: Featured

Happy 10th Anniversary, AdventHealth Wesley Chapel!

When the plans were unveiled for AdventHealth (then Florida Hospital) Wesley Chapel a decade ago, there was no question that Wesley Chapel’s first hospital was much needed in the growing community.

But, Dr. Robert Rosequist, the Chief Medical Officer at AHWC, said he didn’t expect the response the hospital received when it opened its doors for tours a week ahead of its Oct. 1, 2012, official opening.

“We thought maybe 1,000 people might come, but 8,000 showed up,” says Dr. Rosequist. To accommodate everyone, partly due to an elevator that could only take up 20 people at a time, the tours lasted from 7:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Some people waited in line for more than an hour.

Dr. Rosequist thought he’d be home in time for the Tampa Bay Bucs Monday Night Football game against the St. Louis Rams that night. But, when his wife called asking where he was, he told her he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to make it.

Ten years later, Dr. Rosequist, who is still the hospital’s chief medical officer, says that day was just the beginning of something special. “It has been a wonderful experience,” Dr. Rosequist says. “The 10 years have just flown by.”

Thousands lined up for hours for the chance to tour the newly opened Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, now AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. (Neighborhood News files)

AHWC may not have been the first large business in Wesley Chapel, but you could argue that, to date, it has made the most impact.

Although the Porter family also has seen the development of a college, a major indoor athletic complex and a mall in its Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact, developer JD Porter always points to the hospital when asked what his family’s greatest contribution to the area has been. Built on the very land Porter grew up on, with contributions from Tom Dempsey at Saddlebrook Resort and many others, AHWC gave the local community a place to go for medical (including emergency medical) services and has proven to be an anchor for the community.

“I think we were really the catalyst for the growth here in Wesley Chapel,” says Connie Bladon, the director of community outreach for AHWC. “When you think back to when we built the hospital, there wasn’t much around us. When the hospital went in, everyone felt more comfortable moving into the area. You always want a good hospital, (as well as) good schools, safety and security, things like that. Having the hospital here catapulted the growth of Wesley Chapel. Everything (else has) sprung up around us.”

Dr. Rosequist feels that the hospital has achieved many of its goals, especially those established when it changed over from Florida Hospital to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel on Jan. 2, 2019. He says that when the change was made, AHWC’s management came up with four main things that people wanted in their medical care: to feel safe, to feel loved, that doctors were accountable for their care and for it to be as easy as possible to get that care.

“If you can do those four things,” Rosequist says, “everybody is going to love you.”

In 10 years, the hospital definitely has made its mark, not just by marketing its name on facilities like the Center Ice skating rink complex and the indoor basketball arena at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County (both off of S.R. 56), but with medical services that have been lauded nationwide.

Since opening, the hospital has invested more than a total of $400 million in expansion and additional services to provide its award-winning care to more than 800,000 patients. To name a few, AHWC doctors have performed more than 56,000 surgeries and delivered more than 5,000 babies.

A few months after opening, the doors swung open in early 2013 to the hospital’s popular 100,000-sq.-ft. health & wellness center, which is now called the AdventHealth Wellness Plaza Wesley Chapel.

There’s more to come, too. AHWC was designed for growth to accompany the incoming (and still ongoing) Wesley Chapel housing boom. Rosequist, who was on the planning board, said its familiar U-shape was designed to look like the open arms of Jesus, with the intention of having six stories on each of the three wings — north, central and south.

Originally, it opened with just three stories and 83 total beds, because AdventHealth management wasn’t sure how fast the hospital would grow. It turned out to be very fast, indeed.

Including a major expansion in 2016, AHWC has grown from 83 beds to 169, from four operating rooms to 12, and from 20 emergency room beds to 35. There is still room for the hospital to expand to 300 total beds.

AdventHealth also has added the Central Pasco Free Standing Emergency Department into the Lutz community and two medical office buildings adjacent to the hospital, the Wellness Plaza and, in 2021, when AHWC teamed up with the Moffitt Cancer Center on a new three-story, 100,000-sq.-ft. outpatient cancer and research center.

AHWC was named as one of Newsweek’s Best Maternity Hospitals and the team delivered more than 100 babies in August 2022 alone, a new record for the facility.

The hospital has also achieved 14 consecutive Leapfrog ‘A’ grades, the only rating system focused exclusively on hospital safety.

And, when it comes to community partnerships, AHWC is all in, having provided more than $307 million in community benefit services.

The hospital helped usher the community through the Covid-19 pandemic, and the community responded by providing meals for overworked doctors and nurses during the most desperate months of the pandemic.

“Being the first hospital out here was just gratifying, being a part of that,” Dr. Rosequist says. “I’m just so glad the community dug in with us and helped and watched us grow.”

For more information about AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (2600 BBD Blvd.), call (813) 929-5000 or visit AdventHealth.com.

AdventHealth

Both Sides Making Case In Pebble Creek Fight

Save or develop?

Over the next year, those are the questions to be answered when it comes to what to do with the shuttered Pebble Creek Golf Club golf course.

The debate is ongoing.

On Oct. 4, a Save Pebble Creek Rally was held at the Glory Days Grill on Bruce B. Downs, and co-organizer and Pebble Creek resident Leslie Green said she was pleased to draw a bigger crowd than expected — roughly 130 people.

The most important guest, however, may have been Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, whose District 2 includes Pebble Creek and the rest of unincorporated New Tampa.

Hagan could play a key role in the decision whether or not to grant developers — currently GL Homes — the zoning they will need to build new homes on the 149 acres of what are now overgrown greens and fairways.

If Hagan is reelected in November, he will vote “yes” or “no,” along with the other six county commissioners, likely sometime next year if GL Homes proceeds with its plans.

County commissioner Ken Hagan attended the Save Pebble Creek rally and spoke with constituents, including group leader s Jen Solano (left) and Leslie Green (right).

Hagan said he hasn’t made any decision yet, but Green said he talked with almost everyone who showed up to the rally and feels he is on the Save Pebble Creek side.

“I feel that he is 100 percent on our side,” said Green, who has lived on the golf course for 30 years and has run the Save Pebble Creek Facebook page since 2019. “I have a feeling that he’s sincere in what he’s saying to us, and he understands the situation. He will do what the community wants, so the community needs to be showing him what they want.”

What the entire community wants remains to be seen. Green is part of the smaller Pebble Creek Village Home Owners Association (PCV HOA), which represents 303 homes. PCV HOA president Jen Solano was the Save Pebble Creek rally co-organizer.

Another 1,050 homes are in the larger Pebble Creek HOA.

A week after the Save Pebble Creek rally, GL Homes held two meetings — one by zoom on Oct. 13, and an open house at the Hilton Garden Inn in Wesley Chapel on Oct. 15 — to make its case as it considers whether to enter into a deal with Bill Place, who owns the golf course, which he closed on July 31, 2021.

While GL Homes has issued surveys and held a number of smaller focus-group meetings with residents, both of its events last week were open to everyone. Most of the information also is available online at PebbleCreekFacts.com.

According to GL Homes, Pebble Creek’s land use is Res-4, meaning four homes per acre (nearly 600) can be built on the 149 acres. However, GL Homes says it only plans to build roughly 250 single-family one- and two-story homes, leaving 69 acres of open space.

Place says that is a compromise for those residents opposed to development because of the loss of green space.

Pebble Creek Golf Club owner Bill Place says that GL Homes would help ensure residents still had a view (above rendering) that compares favorably to the old golf course.

Some of that open space will consist of four passive parks, tennis courts and other amenities. according to Place. “I love what I’m seeing so far,” he says.

Place said GL Homes intends to convert 17 acres into lakes, including a fishing area. “They want the residents who had the golf course view to have nice water views,” he says.

Although it is unclear if a formal vote of residents will ever be taken, Place says he is feeling more support now that some of GL Homes’ plans have been laid out.

Green, however, says GL Homes is just attempting a “brainwashing” and the residents she has spoken to are unimpressed.

“They tell me there’s nothing there that would change their minds,” Green said. GL Homes, if it proceeds, would likely file plans with the county in early 2023, setting off a process that would take 6-9 months. Eventually, it will come before the County Commission, which would vote on the development.

Until then, the debate will go on.

Hagan said ultimately he will support whatever is determined to be best for Pebble Creek residents. He said, however, that he did tell rally-goers to buckle up.

“I told them if they oppose this, they need to be prepared for a long-term fight,” Hagan says. “This is going to take quite some time.”

pebble creek

Project To Fix Dangerous Median Opening Under Way

Sonny’s BBQ owner Jim Hoff has seen his fair share of accidents on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in front of his restaurant, mostly from cars trying to cut across the busy road to get through an opening in the BBD median (see map) so they can head south.

That opening, however, is in the process of being closed, and Hoff says he is happy to see it.

“It’s going to be better,” Hoff says. “Without that traffic trying to go back and forth across that median, it’s got to be better.”

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has finally started work near arguably Wesley Chapel’s most dangerous intersection at S.R. 54 and BBD.

The project centers around the northbound and southbound median just south of the actual BBD/54 intersection. Work on the project, which will cost just over $2 million, was scheduled to begin prep work on Sept. 22.

The median currently has an opening allowing motorists to cross from exits between the Sonny’s BBQ and Truist Bank (on what is called Paradise Tree Dr.) adjacent to the Publix-anchored Hollybrook Plaza to southbound BBD or straight across to the west, to Advance Auto Parts, Twistee Treat and the Wesley Chapel Village Market shopping center.

Drivers also frequently drive through the median leaving the Village Market to northbound BBD or straight across both directions on BBD to the Hollybrook Plaza.

The median should be blocked soon (if it’s not already as you’re reading this).

“The median will be closed…with traffic control devices — such as drums and closure signs — to allow the permanent traffic separator to be constructed,” said FDOT spokesperson John McShaffrey in an email to the Neighborhood News.

According to FDOT, the median project was initiated by an intersection study that showed 233 “crashes” had been reported in that area from 2011-15.

In a 2015-19 District 7 crash summary report, there were 90 total crashes reported at the intersection of BBD and S.R. 54, eight with serious injuries and one fatality. At the Village Market and BBD intersection, 15 crashes were reported, three of them with serious injuries.

It is not an uncommon sight to see an accident at the northbound side in front of the Sonny’s BBQ or Taco Bell, where traffic is much heavier than on the Village Market side.

A Neighborhood News Reader Survey in 2017 voted the BBD/54 intersection as the second-worst in Wesley Chapel, behind the I-75 and S.R. 56 intersection (which now has a much safer and smoothly running Diverging Diamond Interchange).

The plan to make the location safer centers around closing the split median and constructing one long median from Eagleston Blvd. to the south all the way north to S.R. 54.

Under the current set up, the northbound far left turn lane, when filled during busy traffic hours, extends beyond the median opening and blocks those trying to cross BBD. That makes getting across from the Hollybrook Plaza exit to southbound BBD akin to a game of Frogger for area commuters.

The median closure will mean that drivers leaving the Sonny’s/Truist exit will only be able to turn right, and drivers leaving the Village Market will only be able to head south.

There will be a number of ways those who need to go south after leaving Sonny’s can do so, but it will take planning by drivers, Hoff says.

“You’re going to have to reeducate your guests on how to access (and leave) the complex (Hollybrook Plaza),” Hoff says.

The single, longer median also will create an extended left turn lane onto S.R. 54, which will accommodate more vehicles, which also is expected to reduce congestion.

There also will be a new traffic signal installed at Eagleston Blvd., and new roadway lighting added to the northbound lanes, as well as some resurfacing.

At the southbound end of the new median, where a new traffic signal will be installed at Eagleston Blvd., a dedicated U-turn lane will be built for motorists wanting to go north out of Village Market.

Hoff still has questions about northbound drivers doing U-turns at S.R. 54 and BBD. No additional work, like adding a “No U-Turn” sign, is scheduled for BBD and S.R. 54.

“The project plans do not include any changes to the existing signs or signals at the intersection of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and SR 54,” said McShaffrey in his email to the Neighborhood News. “Northbound U-Turns at the S.R. 54 signal will still be permitted. There is no intent to restrict that movement, as U-Turns at traffic signals are generally part of the access management plans.”

Hoff is hoping most drivers will just take the longer way, turning right onto 54 and then U-turning at Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. and turning left at BBD.

“People who drive are going to have to figure this out,” Hoff says. “Talk to me once they get that median blocked. You’ll be able to tell how this is going to work then.”

bruce b. downs blvd. S.R. 54

A CENTURY OF LOVE!

More than 200 people (including her daughter & party organizer, Ellen Fiss, right, and grandson Garrett Fiss, right) were on hand to celebrate Marion Brodarick’s 100th Birthday!

Considering that she has lived in Pebble Creek for almost 42 years and has entered pretty much every contest we’ve ever run in the Neighborhood News the last 29 (and has regularly called our office to tell us about any number of news stories in her neighborhood), I’ve long considered Marion Brodarick to be a cherished member of my newspaper family.

I therefore was thrilled when Florence Bronner, a member of the bridge club Marion has been a part of since she first moved to New Tampa from her native Chicago, called me to invite me to the bridge club’s celebration of Marion’s 100th birthday at Heritage Isles Golf Club (photo, near right, by Charmaine George).

I was even more excited that Jannah and I were then invited to attend Marion’s “real” 100th birthday bash, thrown for her by her daughter (and long-time publicist for Tampa General Hospital and Fox-13 TV before that) Ellen Fiss. The party was held over Labor Day weekend at The Orlo, a 100+-year-old house in downtown Tampa that has been converted into a spectacular event venue.

Marion was transported to the event in her “Birthday Express,” a beautiful 1920s-style car (right), and was escorted into The Orlo by Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin (or, at least, great impersonators of them; there also were Audrey Hepburn and Elvis impersonators on hand). Inside, Ellen had tables of beautiful, signed photos from not only local newscasters, but celebrities such as Julie Andrews, Johnny Depp, Carol Burnett, Jerry Seinfeld and others, as well as commendations from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd and the Tampa Bay Bucs, plus many other artifacts of Marion’s life, including photos from her wedding to her husband of 58 years, Urban “Brod” Brodarick, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 86.

During her speech at the party, Ellen said that more than 200 people were in attendance (many of whom wore 1920s-era costumes), including more than 50 relatives, who came from 15 states to be there. Former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco (photo on next page) and his wife, Dr. Linda McClintock, were among those who attended in person, while other dignitaries sent videos, including Santiago Corrada of Visit Tampa Bay (where Marion worked for three decades when it was called the Tampa Convention & Visitors Bureau; she also volunteered for 30+ years at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts), Fox-13 anchors Russell Rhodes and Jen Epstein, News Channel 8’s Stacy Schaible and Josh Benson and others.

There was dancing to the music of the 12-piece Don Juceam Orchestra, a quartet from Palma Ceia United Methodist Church (where Ellen and her husband Herb Fiss are members) who sang all of the theme songs of the U.S. military, a letter from Marion’s relatives in Croatia that was read by her granddaughter Olivia Fiss, delicious food by private chef Justin Fedin and the most wonderful feeling Jannah and I have ever felt attending a birthday party.

Congrats, Marion. We love you!

MArion Marion Brodarick

The Lucky Dill Deli — A True NY Deli, But So Much More!

When Alex Mitow, the son of Kim Mitow, who first opened The Lucky Dill Deli in Palm Harbor way back in 1991, emailed to ask for advertising rates in the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, I’ll admit I was a little confused.

Why would a deli restaurant located in Palm Harbor (that I personally had visited many times over the past 31 years because it is a true New York-style deli) want to advertise itself to two communities located at least 45 minutes away?

During my most recent visit, Lucky Dill general manager Ron Garcia explained it this way to me:

“We know that pretty much everyone in Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs and even New Port Richey and Clearwater pretty much already knows who and where we are and what we serve,” Ron said. “But, our goal is to bring in and introduce a whole new group of customers to our ‘destination restaurant’ because we know that if they give us a try, they’ll keep coming back — and tell their friends about us.”

Ron, who has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality business himself, has been the GM at The Lucky Dill since 2020. He told me that it was important to him to maintain the family feel Kim and her family created with delicious, top-quality food and outstanding service.

Kim and her children Jason, Tanya, and Alex, worked hard to bring the New York way of life, along with its commitment to top-notch food and great value, to Lucky Dill Palm Harbor. Over the years (according to its website), “Lucky Dill has been heralded as not only one of the best restaurants in Palms Harbor (it’s nominated again for that honor by Creative Loafing), but one of the top NYC delis in Florida. A loyal following of New York transplants…have grown to call Lucky Dill their home away from home.”

And, for good reason. It had been a couple of years since I had visited The Lucky Dill, but I was excited to give it another try, because it offers a few of my favorite New York deli items you really can’t find anywhere else near here, including real matzo ball soup and savory Jewish-style brisket of beef (not to be confused with BBQ brisket) with real au jus for dipping.

“We use real steamer trays and collect the brisket drippings to make the au jus,” Brian, the head bartender at Lucky Dill’s full liquor bar (with great craft cocktails) told me. We don’t use any of that canned or powdered crap other places use for their au jus.”

The menu at The Lucky Dill is huge, but the variety of deli sandwiches — with favorites like corned beef, pastrami, roast beef, turkey and even chopped liver — is definitely the star of the show. Those who like their sandwiches as big as their heads definitely should try one of the “skyscraper” options, like the Empire State Stacker (shown above, a nearly 9-inch-tall combo of corned beef, pastrami, turkey and roast beef with Swiss and provolone cheeses on marble rye). Lucky Dill even offers “old school” NY Deli Delights like tongue, silky smoked whitefish salad and “Nibbles & Noshes” like Gabila’s Coney Island knishes, Lower East latkes (potato pancakes) with sour cream and chunky applesauce and Hebrew National hot dogs.

But, in addition to those deli classics, The Lucky Dill also offers “A Taste Of Little Italy,” with favorites like clams casino pasta, chicken Alfredo and Vinny’s mozzarella stack.

Breakfast, Bakery & More!

Breakfast at The Lucky Dill includes The Bagel Noshery, with classics like The New Yorker with Nova Scotia salmon, the BEC (Bacon, Egg & Cheese) deluxe, with thick-cut bacon, cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs and chipotle apple aioli.

There’s also a variety of bowls and toasts, like Awesome Avo + Egg toast and an Aussie Brekkie Bowl with poached egg, farro grains, fresh veggies, avocado, grilled halloumi cheese and pickled onions, as well as a variety of traditional egg and omelette dishes and “Bennies,” including the Brighton Beach Benny with smoked Nova Scotia salmon, wilted spinach, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce on an English muffin with a side of home fries. I’ve had the Bananas Foster French toast, which is literally to die for.

The Lucky Dill’s Brooklyn Bakery has a huge variety of cakes, pies (the peanut butter pie is decadent), cookies (including the best black & white cookies I’ve had outside of NYC) and a cannoli bar, where you can custom-design your cannolis with a variety of fillings and toppings. The Bakery counter also serves as The Lucky Dill’s to-go area.

The Lucky Dill also features The Ditch Plains Surf Bar, the first-of-its-kind in the Tampa Bay area. Serving up a slice of Hamptons sophistication in Palm Harbor, this new bar celebrates laid-back beach life with its own beachy menu and refined takes on fresh summery cocktails, quenching frosés and craft beers from New York breweries.

The Lucky Dill Deli (33180 US Hwy. 19, Palm Harbor) is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. For more info, call (727) 789-5574, visit LuckyDillDeli.com and join the email list and receive a $15 gift card emailed to you on your birthday.

Lucky Dill