Speaking of convenience, Walmart is expanding a partnership to provide convenient healthcare options inside their stores, and the Wesley Chapel is next on the list. Last month, the Walmart at 28500 S.R. 54 took out permits and then quickly installed the new sign for “Conviva Senior Primary Care,” located in the clinical office space formerly occupied by Walmart Health.
The clinics are part of Humana’s Primary Care Organization (PCO), which includes Conviva and CenterWell Senior Primary Care.
Last year, in a press release from Humana, Walmart’s executive vice president of health & wellness Brian Setzer said, “We are looking forward to welcoming CenterWell [and Conviva] into these purpose-built health care spaces to offer quality care to communities in four states.”
He added, “Leasing these spaces to a well-known and successful healthcare delivery organization is a win for [our] customers and patients, as we continue to focus on our core health & wellness business of Pharmacy and Optical.”
Conviva’s website states that the company has locations in Texas and Florida, and we found that there are already more than a dozen existing care centers dotted around the greater Tampa area, a couple of which are located inside Walmarts, like the ones at 1575 Land O’Lakes Blvd. in Lutz and at 7631 Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills.
According to ConvivaCareCenters.com, “At Conviva Senior Primary Care, you’ll get 50% more one-on-one time with our primary care physicians who respect your schedule. Take the time to ask all of your questions and feel confident about your care.”
Conviva will have its own exterior entrance, located east of the doors for Wesley Chapel Walmart’s ‘Home & Pharmacy’ section. There will be dedicated and marked parking spaces for patients, as well as another interior entrance to the clinic next to the vision center.
Meghan Kile, an insurance broker/agent with a desk set up just inside the front of the Walmart in the mornings (under a bright blue banner with the Walmart logo and the names of multiple insurance providers), stated that she thinks Conviva is hoping to be open by April or May, but she had heard no exact date as of yet. Meghan believes this Conviva location is still in the process of hiring its staff.
The sign out front of Conviva’s exterior entrance says “Accepting New Patients” and the phone number listed — (813) 815-8391 — goes straight to a voicemail for an “Immacula Nezier, APRN.” Unfortunately, we were not able to get in touch with Nezier for more exact details.
A variety of unique treatment options are available at Genesis Wellness Clinic on N. 56th St. in nearby Temple Terrace. (Photo by Charmaine George)
Genesis Wellness Clinic, formerly known as Genesis Medical Clinic (located on N. 56th St. in Temple Terrace), offers a unique variety of outpatient healthcare services in one convenient location. The practice combines a focus on prevention and wellness into a traditional medical clinic to provide an integrative approach to healthcare.
After operating for more than a decade as Genesis Medical Clinic, this long-standing clinic is “in the process of transitioning to this new name to reflect a shift in treating patients more holistically,” explained owner Ike Okeke. Holistic medicine refers to considering a person’s mind, whole body and environment when developing a treatment plan and can incorporate alternative medical treatments, too. When holistic medicine is combined with traditional Western medicine, it can be referred to as integrative medicine.
Ike Okeke is a pharmacist by trade. He received his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree (B. Pharm) from the University of Nigeria in 1991. His pharmacy background helps him as the clinic owner to understand the work performed by the different Genesis providers and to bring new treatment options to the clinic.
Ike’s wife Yvonne also is a pharmacist, having graduated from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine College of Pharmacy with a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree in 2011. She runs Temple Terrace Pharmacy, an independent community pharmacy, located next door to the clinic, making it easy for patients who want to fill their prescriptions right after their clinic appointments.
There are three physicians at Genesis Wellness Clinic, each with different specialties and medical training.
Dr. George Bino Rucker, M.D., is an integrative medicine doctor. Dr. Rucker completed medical school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1995 and received urologic surgery training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York City.
In 2011, after a decade as a urologic cancer surgeon, Dr Rucker shifted to practicing in integrative medicine. Since then, he has developed expertise in hormone replacement therapy, IV infusions (including Ketamine, ozone, stem cells, etc.), comprehensive weight loss programs and more.
Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Mastaw, M.D., is an interventional pain management and regenerative medicine physician with more than 20 years of experience. He graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor in 2000 and completed residency training in anesthesia. After residency, he served as an anesthesiologist for the U.S. Navy for five years, including in Iraq and Spain. Afterwards, he went back to the University of Michigan to complete a one-year fellowship in interventional pain management.
Dr. Syed Hasan, M.D, completed medical school in 1990 at Dow Medical College in Pakistan and an internal medicine residency at New York University (NYU) Lutheran Medical Center (now known as NYU Langhorne Hospital) in Brooklyn, NY, thereafter. Dr. Hasan has been practicing in internal medicine since then, and has experience in bariatric medicine (causes, prevention and treatment of obesity) as well.
In addition to the physicians, Genesis Wellness Clinic patients also may see Mary Rosario, a psychiatric nurse practitioner (NP) and Janelle Griffith, a physician assistant (PA).
Treatments & Services Available
Before anyone can receive treatment at Genesis Wellness Clinic, a doctor will first meet with you for consultation only to ask questions and gather medical information. Then, if you are deemed an appropriate candidate for treatment, the doctor will design a treatment protocol specific to you.
Hormone replacement therapy has become an increasingly popular treatment at the clinic. It can be uncomfortable to discuss, but patients are increasingly seeking hormone therapy with estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. “Men and women come to the clinic asking for hormone therapy because they are struggling with hot flashes, lack of sleep, mental fatigue and low sex drive,” Ike says.
The clinic also offers many interventional pain techniques to help manage chronic body and nerve pain. Available treatments include anesthetic and steroid injections in various areas of the spine, injecting lubricating hyaluronic acid near the knees, and applying radiofrequency ablation (heat from radio waves) to tissues.
If you have a painful diabetic neuropathy (nerve pain) causing numbing and tingling in your hands and feet, Genesis Wellness Clinic offers a drug-free approach that combines deep tissue lasers, microvascular artery pneumatic pumps and nutrition to increase blood flow to affected areas and hopefully reduce that pain.
For those suffering from urinary incontinence, the clinic has a TeslaMax™ machine that provides electric muscle stimulation to weakened pelvic floor muscles. Combining the TeslaMax™ treatments with resistance exercises taught by the clinic’s practitioners can strengthen pelvic floor muscles and nerves and improve and even potentially eliminate urinary incontinence for patients.
“The TeslaMax™ machine helps patients in a similar manner to performing Kegel exercises but via electrical stimulation,” says Ike. Also available are injections with ozone, platelet rich plasma (PSP), Botox, vitamins and more.
Ketamine is a medication with many uses. It is gaining use in pain control, depression, and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), especially if traditional treatments have been unsuccessful. “We also can treat anxiety, depression, ADHD and many other mental health conditions,” Ike says. For those needing help with weight loss or physical therapy, comprehensive programs with counseling, in office therapy, home exercise regimens, medicine and close follow-up also are available.
Walk-ins are always welcome. If patients have primary care providers or referring doctors, the providers at Genesis Wellness Clinic will be in communication with them as well.
Genesis Wellness Clinic is located at 9780 N. 56th St., Suite C. It is open Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more info or to book an appointment, call (813) 549-7465, visit mygenesiswellnessclinic.com.
