Pasco School District Opens Health & Wellness Center In Wesley Chapel

By Matt Wiley

Thomas E. Weightman Middle School in Wesley Chapel is known as a place of learning. However, it now also will be known as a place of health and wellness, as the Pasco County School District (PCSD) has opened a new Health & Wellness Center (HWC) at the school. 

During a Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 24, PCSD superintendent Kurt Browning, Pasco School Board members Cynthia Armstrong and Allen Altman, chamber ambassadors and Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) deputies gathered at Weightman’s campus (located on Wells Rd.) to celebrate the opening of the District’s fifth HWC.

Through a partnership with Nashville, TN-based CareHere, PCSD employees and their families can seek medical treatment at the Weightman HWC, which provides primary care treatment, lab work, medication, x-rays and more at no out-of-pocket cost with their Florida Blue insurance. The five HWCs are capable of treating colds, flu (and flu shots), sore throats, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, as well as provide physicals and perform electrocardiograms for the District’s more than 9,700 employees.

“It was a great decision by the school board and the school district to embark upon this opportunity to provide quality healthcare to our employees and our families,” Browning said at the ceremony. He also announced that the Weightman HWC would be available for PCSO’s 1,300 employees, as well, thanks to a recent interlocal agreement between the agency and PCSD.

“It’s a great opportunity to partner with (PCSO) to extend great, quality health care to the sheriff’s office employees, as well,” Browning said.

Through the agreement, PCSD and PSCO will share many of the overhead costs of maintaining the center

“As a member of the (PCSD) health & wellness committee, I’ve seen the benefits that these centers have provided to our employees,” Armstrong said. “I’m so pleased with the participation of our employees that created the necessity for the fifth center. These help us reduce the district’s cost and out-of-pocket costs for our employees. These centers have helped us be named the 35^th healthiest employer in the (U.S).”

“It’s all about efficiency and cost and getting our folks in quickly,” said PCSO Maj. Ed Beckman. “We’re a 24/7 operation, so we never shut down.”

Beckman explained that when trying to get medical care, it sometimes takes up to a week to get in to see a doctor. With the HWC, deputies and employees are able to get in within a day and, sometimes even the same day.

“It’s been nothing but successful,” Beckman said. “We really appreciate the partnership.”

For more information about the HWC, please visit Pasco.K12.fl.us.