AdventHealth Wesley Chapel Breaks Ground On Expansion Of Main Hospital 

AdventHealth Wesley Chapel president Erik Wangsness at the groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital’s expansion. (Photos by Charmaine George)

When AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (AHWC) opened as the first hospital located in Wesley Chapel almost a dozen years ago (when it was called Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel) with just 83 total beds, the community was told that the plan was to eventually expand the number of beds to 300. 

Since then, AHWC has done a lot more than just go through a name change to AHWC in 2019. First of all, two medical office buildings have opened (the AHWC Wellness Plaza in 2013 and the Outpatient Cancer & Research Center, in partnership with the Moffitt Cancer Center, in 2021). 

In addition, the hospital more than doubled its original 83 beds to 169 in 2016, which also included increasing from four operating rooms to 12 and from 20 emergency room (ER) beds to 35. 

But, along with the recent establishment of the new family care residency program and the freestanding emergency room in Meadow Pointe (as we reported last issue), AHWC held a groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital’s upward expansion on Aug. 15. Although Jannah and I were not personally able to attend that event, photographer Charmaine George did attend and made sure she recorded all of the proceedings for me, so I could write this story. 

On hand for the event were District 54 State Rep. Randy Maggard, Pasco Commissioners Jack Mariano (Dist. 5), Seth Weightman (Dist. 2) and Board Chair Ron Oakley (Dist. 1), and Pasco Fire Chief Tony Perez, as well as members of both the hospital’s Governing Board and its Foundation’s Board and the AdventHealth Division office. AHWC president Erik Wangsness also introduced Bill Porter of the Porter Family Trust and Scott Sheridan of Locust Branch, LLC, the developer of Wiregrass Ranch, “since we are located on the Porter family’s land,” Wangsness said. 

Wangsness also thanked those involved in the design and construction of the hospital expansion, including the AdventHealth Office of Design & Construction, architects HuntonBrady, design engineers Smith Seckman Reed, Atwell civil engineers and general contractor Batson Cook. 

“This hospital is not yet 12 years old,” Wangsness said. “It opened in 2012 with 83 beds but was designed to grow with the community. We’re at 169 now but this expansion will allow us to add 72 inpatient beds, which is important for us — even though there are other facilities opening around us — since this community continues to grow in a meaningful way.” 

Several different groups took part in the groundbreaking. This photo includes State Rep. Randy Maggard (far right) and three Pasco County commissioners, as well as the hospital’s management team. 

“Case in point,” he added, “We have around 20 patients waiting at our Emergency Department this morning for admission. We need the [additional] capacity to continue to serve this growing community. And, the development isn’t going to stop, so it’s time for us to continue to grow.” 

In addition to the inpatient beds, Wangsness said the expansion will add a couple of additional operating rooms, endoscopy suites, pre- and post-op beds, additional imaging, a PET-CT (positron emission tomography-computed tomography) suite and a hybrid lab (a traditional lab that also can double as a surgical operating room), “that will help us grow in the severity of the patients we can serve. I want to thank all of you for joining us on this warm, muggy morning.” Wangsness also said the expansion should be completed by the end of 2025. 

Also on hand were Bill Porter (left) of the Porter family & Scott Sheridan of the Wiregrass Ranch development team. 

Wangsness then introduced Rep. Maggard, who said, “We all know how important it is for Advent to be doing this for our community. I can truly say that when I go to Tallahassee, people know [there is] no district like we have, District 54, with the community partners we have here. It is special and I feel very honored to be able to help in any way I can to help this area grow.” 

Rep. Maggard also mentioned Pasco Hernando State College and its nearby Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, which recently expanded its nursing program (as we reported last issue). “We can see a future that’s bright for our area.” 

He also mentioned that the need for health care facilities will continue to grow. “We expect a 20% population growth for Pasco County by 2045,” he said. “If you think the traffic’s bad now, just wait.” 

Comm. Oakley also said he was honored to be on the Foundation Board for AdventHealth, and to be on-hand for yet another major event for the hospital, “which is such a great community partner.” He also said that AHWC’s competition, with one additional hospital built and 1-2 others being built, means all of the hospitals “will be competing to be number 1. The benefactors of that competition are the people of Pasco County.” 

Wangsness said that because Comm. Oakley mentioned AHWC’s competition, “I just want to say that we’ve been recognized by Newsweek magazine three years in a row as one of the ‘World’s Best Hospitals.’” 

Comm. Weightman, whose Dist. 2 includes the hospital, then also thanked the Porter family for its vision for Wiregrass Ranch. 

Norm Stein

“It wasn’t long ago that this was all wide open… with cows roaming around…and Bruce B. Downs was a road to nowhere. But, we’ve grown in incredible leaps and bounds over the past decade. The vision of Wiregrass Ranch and AdventHealth…it’s just such a fantastic place to be for our community. The investment that Advent continues to make…and the jobs… it’s just phenomenal.” 

Speaking of vision, the final speaker before the groundbreaking was former University Community Hospital president and long-time AHWC Board member Norm Stein, whom Wangsness credited with having the vision for the need to build a hospital in Wesley Chapel. 

“It was Dec. 14, 2010, when we had another groundbreaking,” Stein said. “The late Don Porter had walked into my hospital and told me of his idea to build a hospital in this part of Pasco and to have a college that could provide nursing students for that hospital. And, he wanted to see both of those institutions come together on his property. And you know what? It wasn’t easy, but it happened.”

AdventHealth Expanding With Resident Program, ER & Additional Floors 

When AdventHealth cut the ribbon at the new 13,000-sq.-ft. Medical Group office in the AdventHealth Wesley Chapel Wellness Plaza on July 16, the event was much more than just a ribbon cutting, as the hospital announced that the eight Family Medicine residents who cut the ribbon would be the first to participate in the hospital’s new Family Practice residency program that will train eight new residents a year for three years at the new Medical Group location. 
Check out all of the news about AdventHealth on pages 4-5! (Photos by Charmaine George) 

 If anyone thought that Advent Health Wesley Chapel (AHWC), the first hospital to open in our area more than 12 years ago, was going to sit back and rest on its laurels and let newcomers BayCare Wesley Chapel and Orlando Health Hospital at Wiregrass take the lead in local health care, they were sadly mistaken. 

Not only did AdventHealth cut the ribbon on a new 13,000-sq.-ft. space for its AdventHealth Medical Group in the hospital’s adjacent Wellness Plaza on July 16, AHWC president Erik Wangsness also announced the start of a new Family Medicine residency program in the new space. 

As if that impressive new office, with its eight new Family Medicine residents and state-of-the-art technology wasn’t enough, the hospital also broke ground on July 9 on a new freestanding emergency room in Meadow Pointe and also is getting ready to break ground on the expansion of the hospital itself. 

In other words, when it comes to AdventHealth in Wesley Chapel, to quote Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” 

More than 100 people attended the ribbon cutting for the new AdventHealth Medical Group office on July 16, including District 54 State Representative Randy Maggard and Pasco County Commissioners Seth Weightman, Jack Mariano and Lisa Yeager. 

(l.-r) County Commissioner Lisa Yeager, State Rep. Randy Maggard, AHWC president Erik Wangsness & County Commissioners Jack Mariano and Seth Weightman. 

“I understand we have a County Commission quorum here,” Wangsness quipped. “We genuinely appreciate the support.” 

Also on hand were several of Wangsness’ colleagues, including several of the hospital’s Board members, AHWC Foundation Board members, President & CEO of Administration David Ottati, chief clinical officer Dr. Rajan Wadhawan, Family Medicine founding program director Dr. Omari Hodge, Dr. Robert Rosequist, and AHWC CFO Jonathan Fisher, as well as the eight new residents themselves. 

The new facility includes an in-house laboratory, procedure room, classrooms and eleven exam rooms, 4D ultrasound, preventive care, minor procedures and chronic disease management, as well as the residents and their supervising physicians. 


Dr. Rajan Wadhawan 

Dr. Omari Hodge 

“Each year, we will bring in eight new residents into the program, so in three years, we will have 24 new doctors who will be serving the community in the clinic and in the hospital in outpatient settings and it’s going to be a powerful way to serve the needs of not only this growing community but throughout Florida.” 

He added, “Across Florida, there’s a dearth of physicians. This new residency program is a way that we can bless this community through health care. And, we hope and believe that many of them will choose to stay here when they complete their three-year residencies and continue to serve this growing community.” 

Dr. Wadhawan mentioned that the new family medicine program, “is one of three GME (graduate medical education) programs we launched this year in our West Florida division. On July 1, 2024, we had 40 new doctors join these programs as trainees.” 

Dr. Hodge, who will be in charge of the resident program, said he was hired by AHWC two years ago. “I took a drive out to one of the beautiful Pinellas beaches and told my wife, ‘I think I can do this.’” He also said he was excited to be starting this program with an outstanding crop of young residents. 

AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa Continues To Grow 

As soon as you step into the AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa on Bruce B. Downs Blvd., just south of Cross Creek Blvd. in front of Hunter’s Green, you are greeted at the “Welcome Center” reception area by smiling faces who help make both walk-in patients and those with appointments feel welcome. (Photos on these pages provided by AdventHealth Care Pavilion)

When the AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa opened back in 2021, it was poised to serve the community as a modern, convenient way to meet the area’s primary healthcare needs.

Two years later, the Care Pavilion,  located on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just south of Cross Creek Blvd. in front of Hunter’s Green, has delivered on its promise to provide a reimagined experience to make going to the doctor easier.

“AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa is committed to meeting the growing healthcare needs of the community,” says Victor Odoh, the market director for Advent Health Care Pavilion New Tampa. “With a comprehensive range of services under one roof, including primary and specialty care, pediatrics, imaging, an on-site lab and more, our purpose is to provide convenient and accessible healthcare to those we serve.”

The 50,000-sq.-ft. building is home to primary care physicians and providers, 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 even leave with their prescriptions already in hand.

With its Care Pavilions, AdventHealth has reduced or eliminated altogether many of the frustrations that are typical of a visit to the doctor’s office — such as having to schedule way in advance, dealing with crowded waiting rooms with long waits to see the doctor, and having to fill out pages and pages of forms.

The New Tampa Care Pavilion is open for early morning appointments, evening hours, and even all day (8 a.m.-5 p.m.) on Saturday, for flexibility and convenience.

“(Local) families need access to high-quality medical care,” says Odoh. “Advent Health strives to make health care easier and more convenient for our patients, reducing the need for additional trips elsewhere. That is why the AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa offers same-day appointment availability, weekend hours and convenient registration, along with in-house labs, imaging, and an in-house pharmacy.”

AdventHealth is adding advanced practitioners and physicians to the location, to be sure they can accommodate the number of people who visit.

In addition to its primary care services and various subspecialties, including cardiology, dermatology and pediatrics, the on-site Imaging Center offers services such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRIs), computed tomography (CT scans), dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA scans), X-rays, Ultrasound imaging and 3D Mammography, with a separate women’s suite to provide a private, comfortable area for women to receive breast care.

Odoh explains that the Hunter’s Green location offers a short-bore MRI unit (photo left) for enhanced patient comfort. 

“Depending on the exam,” he says, “we can scan head first or feet first to allow positioning closer to the entrance of the machine. We provide headphones with music of (the patient’s) choice, positioning supports, sheets and blankets to provide a relaxing environment during the exam. The imaging technicians always aim to make patients as comfortable as possible.”

And, while the Care Pavilion is not an urgent care center, it is structured in such a way that patients can receive all of the care — and convenience — they would receive at an urgent care facility.

“We’ve added additional primary care physicians within the Care Pavilion over the last year to care for our growing community,” says Odoh. “We are also excited to share that the New Tampa Imaging Center now performs daily pediatric and adult scoliosis studies on an outpatient basis. Scoliosis studies are a series of X-rays used to (properly) identify curvatures of the spine. Appointments are not necessary, and walk-ins are welcome.”

Appointments are available for patients who prefer them, but if you don’t have an appointment, you can still 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.

Another perk of the AdventHealth 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 with the office and its services are available at your fingertips.

Entering The ‘Kids Zone’

For parents, another inconvenience of going to the doctor themselves can be having to bring their children along and keep them entertained. But, the AdventHealth Care Pavilion has a solution for that, too.

“For families with young children, the Care Pavilion has a ‘Kids Club’ — (with) complimentary care for children ages three months to 12 years — so parents can enjoy stress-free appointments,” explains Odoh. 

Parents who are being treated or seen at the Care Pavilion can have their kids watched at the facility’s on-site, secure “Kids Club.”

The Kids Club can host up to eight children at a time, while their parents are seeing a doctor in the building.

Odoh emphasizes that the Care Pavilion does not charge any fee for the Kids Club, which follows strict safety measures, such as procedures for registering and releasing children, and doors are kept locked for security.

The Care Pavilion still has room to grow, and AdventHealth is committed to delivering convenient and accessible care to meet the community’s healthcare needs. 

A recent Google review gives the facility five out of five stars.

“We have been with AdventHealth for three years, (and) at the Pavilion since it opened,” says Colleen Scherer in her review. “They are always helpful and accommodating, but today was above and beyond. We have multiple family moves coming up soon, as well as a child going off to college. With everything happening simultaneously, I had questions to clarify what was needed to complete paperwork for the college. I went in person to ask my questions and the staff jumped into action not only to answer my questions but get everything needed done TODAY, which was completely unexpected… Everyone was so kind and helpful!”

Odoh summarizes the bottom line for the facility, “We want (people) to know that AdventHealth Care Pavilion is dedicated to providing high-quality healthcare and supporting the well-being of our patients.”

The AdventHealth Care Pavilion New Tampa (8702 Hunters Lake Dr.) is open Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.-7 p.m., and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sat. For more info, call (813) 467-4700 or visit AdventHealthCarePavilion.com.

Busy Month! AHWC’s 10-Year Event Feb. 5; BayCare WC’s Preview Feb. 18! 

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AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (AHWC) marked its 10th anniversary late last year, but due to bad weather that canceled its big party, the hospital’s administration and staff, and the Wesley Chapel community, never got to celebrate the big event.

On Sunday, February 5, the official ten-year celebration will finally be held. The hospital, Wesley Chapel’s first, promises a “free, fun-filled day of family-friendly activities and health & wellness for every age” from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

The celebration will be held in the parking lot behind the hospital, which is located at 2600 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.

AHWC has been a well-known and active fixture in Wesley Chapel, since opening in 2012 as Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, coming along at a time when there was not nearly as much in the area.

“I think we were really the catalyst for the growth here in Wesley Chapel,” Connie Bladon, the director of community outreach for AHWC, told us last October when the hospital turned 10. “You always want a good hospital, (as well as) good schools, safety and security, things like that….Everything (else has) sprung up around us.”

Since opening in 2013, the hospital’s popular 100,000-sq.-ft. health & wellness center building, which is now called the AdventHealth Wellness Plaza Wesley Chapel, also opened, and a major expansion in 2016 saw the number of beds double (from 83 to 169) and the hospital went from having just four operating rooms to its current 12, and from 20 emergency room beds to 35.

There is still room for AHWC to expand to 300 total beds. Since it opened, the hospital’s doctors have performed more than 56,000 surgeries and delivered more than 5,000 babies.

In 2021, AHWC teamed up with the Moffitt Cancer Center on a new three-story, 100,000-sq.-ft. medical office building, a new oncology unit with 24 in-patient rooms and two new operating rooms.

To register to attend, visit AHWesleyChapel.com/Events. — JCC

BayCare Preview Feb. 18!

Meanwhile, BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, an 86-bed, state-of-the-art hospital that will open in March is hosting a Community Event preview of the new hospital on Saturday, February 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel will contain comprehensive medical services and health care resources including: Breast health, diabetes and endocrinology, diagnostic services (including imaging and lab), ear, nose and throat, emergency room, gastroenterology, heart and vascular, intensive care unit with virtual-monitoring beds, interventional radiology, orthopedics, primary care, pulmonology and respiratory, rehabilitation, surgery (including robotic surgery), urology, wound care and more.

The family-friendly event will include hospital tours, cuisine from local restaurants, wellness screenings, a local market, live music and entertainment and a kids village with games, activities, puppets and more.

For more information, and to register to attend, visit baycare.org/baycare-is-growing-in-wesley-chapel. — GN

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. Robert B Rosequist

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.

 â€œBeing 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.