The exterior construction of the new Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute building (also known as The Medical Center at Wiregrass Ranch) on the south side of S.R. 56 (at Hueland Pond Blvd.) is nearing completion. It is expected to open to patients later this year. (Photo by Joel Provenzano)
Across from the Daybreak Market & Fuel gas station project, on the southwest corner of S.R. 56 and Hueland Pond Blvd. (north of Sand Dune Rd.), next to Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care, is a two-story, 56,559- sq.-ft. medical office building being constructed by Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCS). This building will add yet another medical specialty space to Wesley Chapel, and specifically to the Wiregrass Ranch development.
This project has been a few years in the making. The meeting with the county for this site first took place in 2021, with permits being started in 2022 and an official ground breaking with the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) in September of that year.
But now, this 6.13-acre site, which appraised at more than $2 million, is looking well under way (see photo above), with most of the vertical exterior walls in place and the site fully buzzing with construction crews. And, based on the story we ran in early Oct. 2022, FCS plans to occupy 45,000 sq. ft. of the two-story building, which will make it larger than the 28,000 sq. ft. of space dedicated to the Moffitt Cancer Center at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, which opened in May 2021. The remaining space in the Medical Center at Wiregrass Ranch is for lease.
The site map for the Medical Center at Wiregrass Ranch. (Source: Pasco County)
FCS originally came to Wesley Chapel in 2019 — to a small building in the Cypress Glen Professional Park (off Cypress Ridge Blvd., north of S.R. 56) — where the group quickly earned a good reputation from its patients for the staff’s compassion and respect.
Florida Cancer Specialists isn’t new to the game either, as the company has been operating for 40 years and has 100+ locations.
According to its website, FLCancer.org, “Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute has a national reputation for excellence in oncology, hematology and cancer research. With over 250 physicians and nearly 100 locations, we are committed to providing Wesley Chapel and (the nearby area) with world-class cancer care close to home.”
The website also says that, the new building, “will include 27 patient exam rooms, 69 infusion treatment chairs, as well as an on-site laboratory, pharmacy, PET/ CT imaging and radiation oncology services. Patients will also have opportunities to participate in clinical trials research as well as care management services.”
Although we did not receive confirmation of all of this information in time for this article, the FCS website also states that, “Board-certified medical oncologists Ayman Barakat, MD, Uday Dandamundi, MD, Eva Gupta, MD, Richard McDonough, MD, Shilen Patel, MD, and Ramya Pinnamaneni, MD, will provide care to patients at the new Wesley Chapel clinic.”
At our press time, we did not know the expected opening date of the building, but we believe it will be sometime later this year.
(l.-r.) Dr. Neeta Chhabra, Dr. Bruce Anderson & Dr. Aundrea Snyder of Anderson & Chhabra Eye Care Centers, which have offices in Tampa & Wesley Chapel. (Photos by Charmaine George)
Located in the Red Fern Professional Center off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Bvd. between S.R. 56 and S.R. 54 is the new second office of Anderson & Chhabra Eye Care Center. The optometrists at Anderson & Chhabra have been helping adults and children in the Tampa area at their original office on W. Fletcher Ave. for more than 40 years and have 70+ years of combined experience.
The newest member of the Anderson & Chhabra team, and the primary optometrist working at the Wesley Chapel office, is Aundrea Snyder, O.D. Dr. Snyder earned her Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) degree from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry located at Salus University in Elkins Park, PA, in 2022. She completed her residency in Ocular Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa in 2023. Dr. Snyder provides primary eye care for adults and children ages 5 and older, as well as specialty contact lens fittings and help for those with double vision or low vision (also known as near-blindness).
Although Dr. Snyder is the main doctor working at the Wesley Chapel office, the other doctors based at the Tampa office also will rotate between both offices. Below is an introduction to the other doctors at Anderson & Chhabra Eye Care:
Dr. Bruce Anderson, O.D., F.A.A.O., DIPL, opened his first practice on N. Dale Mabry Hwy. in Tampa in 1983 and was there for 13 years before moving the practice to the Fletcher Ave. office in December 1996. Dr. Anderson received his O.D. degree from the University of Houston in 1980. He did his residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Albuquerque, NM, in 1981. He is a Fellow and Diplomate of the American Academy of Optometry and worked at the Contact Lens and Low Vision Clinics at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa as their director from 1996 to 2018. Although no longer seeing patients himself, Dr. Anderson is still very much involved with the practice as its mentor and leader.
In 2008, the practice added Neeta Chhabra, O.D., M.S., F.A.A.O., F.S.L.S. Dr. Chhabra received her Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Vision Science and completed her O.D. degree, both from the Ohio State University in Columbus, in 2006. She also had an ocular disease residency at The Omni Eye Services in Iselin, NJ, in 2007 and her contact lens residency from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale in 2008. Dr. Chhabra is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and the Scleral Lens Society and a Member of the American Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control. She also serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of South Florida (USF) and sees patients at Anderson & Chhabra as young as age 5.
In 2017, Richard Weisenberger O.D., F.A.A.O., DIPL, joined the group. He earned his O.D. degree from Nova Southeastern University in 2016 and completed a residency in Primary Care and Brain Injury at the Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa in 2017. Dr. Weisenberger is a Fellow and Diplomate of the American Academy of Optometry and an Associate Professor at USF in the Ophthalmology Department.
No story about Anderson & Chhabra would be complete without mentioning a wonderful man who worked in the practice for more than 20 years — Dr. William O. Malone, Jr. Unfortunately, Dr. Malone passed away in 2022. As someone whose entire family was treated by Dr. Malone, I can tell you that he was a loving and gentle man who was always quick with a joke. He loved his patients and his patients loved him. He is very much missed by everyone who knew him.
About The Wesley Chapel Office
Dr. Aundrea Snyder works with a patient at Anderson & Chhabra Eye Care’s Wesley Chapel office, which also has a small optical area (below right) with a variety of prescription eyewear (below left) available for purchase.
The Anderson & Chhabra office in Wesley Chapel is available for general eye exams. Dr. Snyder will detect, treat and manage a variety of ocular diseases, such as glaucoma, pink eye, dry eye, infections and much more. Although the offices don’t take infants as patients, Dr. Chhabra specializes in children ages 5 and older.
Dr. Snyder says, “The best time to take your child to the optometrist is right before they begin school.” She recommends glasses for children until they are in middle school, when they can transition into contact lenses. She says, “Exceptions can be made for younger children who want contacts earlier and can wear them responsibly; as well as for those who are involved in sports.”
Two specialty services that are offered by the Anderson & Chhabra offices that you don’t always find in other optometric practices are specialty contact lens fittings and working with patients with low vision.
Dr. Snyder says that “contact lenses are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. There are lenses you can wear daily, weekly, monthly and then you have the previously dreaded original hard contact lenses.”
She adds that, “These days, the difference between hard and soft contact lenses is the vision clarity. The clarity you get with the hard contact lenses will never compare with the soft.” She adds that there are many people who will be able to see better with hard lenses, especially those suffering from extreme myopia or astigmatism.
“Hard contact lenses have gotten more comfortable,” she explains. “One of the ways they have changed is the way they are made. Today’s hard lenses are more breathable, come in different sizes and stay in the eye.” In the past, hard lenses would float on the eye and the slightest movement or touch could make the lens fall out. This is not the case anymore. Now, says Dr. Snyder, “Hard lenses stay in place and are made so they don’t touch the cornea, which also makes them more comfortable — and cause fewer problems.”
Dr. Snyder also says that “Hard contacts are primarily used when someone has a high prescription, a deformed cornea, or when soft contacts cannot be used.”
The practice offers services for people with low vision, which is a visual impairment that makes it difficult to function on a daily basis. The condition can affect the sharpness of a person’s vision or the visual field. The World Health Organization defines low vision as “visual acuity between 20/400 and 20/70 or a visual field of 20 degrees or less. Dr. Snyder says that when treating patients with low vision, the Anderson & Chhabra offices work with a few organizations, including the Florida Division of Blind Services, which has the following Mission Statement: “To ensure blind and visually-impaired Floridians have the tools, support and opportunity to achieve success.”
Working With Lighthouse
The Anderson & Chhabra offices also work with Lighthouse for the Blind & Low Vision, which offers training programs designed to help anyone who has recently lost part or all of their vision to gain the skills they need to perform daily living tasks.
Dr. Snyder says that children who are blind or visually impaired need the proper tools and training to succeed in life. Lighthouse will help blind and near-blind infants and young children get prepared for school, and help teens get ready for college, the workforce and independent living after graduation.
Dr. Snyder says her goal is to help people who are vision-impaired become more comfortable with glasses or devices, including digital magnifiers, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A digital magnifier has a camera that is almost like a projector and captures the image for the visually impaired. The image can then be zoomed in on and offer contrast changes, depending upon the user’s needs.
Dr. Snyder says most of these digital magnifying devices unfortunately are not covered by insurance but that’s where Lighthouse steps in to help.
Speaking of insurance, both Anderson & Chhabra offices accept Vision Service Plans (VSPs), EyeMed insurance and Medicare. They also accept most regular medical insurance plans as well, but regular optometric office visits are not usually covered by medical insurance, which comes into play if a lab test that is not covered by vision insurance is needed.
The new Anderson & Chhabra office also has a full optical area, where you’ll find brands such as Burberry, Tory Burch, Gucci, Ray-Ban, Kate Spade, DKNY, Michael Kors, Swarovski and Under Armour, to mention just a few. The optical area also makes prescription sunglasses. Please note that the variety available currently at the Wesley Chapel office is a bit smaller than at the Tampa location.
At this time, the Wesley Chapel office is accepting appointments on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays only.
Anderson & Chhabra Eye Care’s Wesley Chapel office is located at 3822 Turman Loop. The Tampa office is located at 719 W. Fletcher Ave. For more information or to make appointments at either office, call (813) 961-2020 or visit AndersonEyeCareCenter.com.
We are planning to start our 2024 Reader Dining Survey & Contest in our next issue, but first, here is the list — that I hope is complete — of all of the sit-down and take-out restaurants located in New Tampa’s 33647 zip code (and south on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. to Bearss Ave. and west to Livingston Ave. After that, we have the list — which clearly is much larger — for Wesley Chapel’s three zip codes (33543, 33544 & 33545). Of course, with two malls located in/adjacent to Wesley Chapel, there were bound to be more total eateries there than in New Tampa, but the difference in terms of sheer numbers — with about 100 in & near New Tampa and more than 150 in & near Wesley Chapel — is still pretty impressive.
And finally, we also have listed separately the places that are bars only, coffee- or dessert-only places & other food-oriented places that can’t, in all good conscience, be called “restaurants,” although some places on the “Coffee or Tea Only” list still also qualified for the restaurant list.
If you feel that any that are missing from this list, please email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com to let me know. We’ve already had to make some additions since just the Wesley Chapel list ran in our June 11 Wesley Chapel issue.
New Tampa residents Nidhi Dwivedi and Arvind Gupta of Financial Vision can help you with estate planning, life insurance and more. (Photo by Charmaine George)
It’s easy to imagine how emotionally difficult it would be to navigate losing your spouse, but for anyone who was not prepared financially for that scenario, it makes an already terrible situation even worse.
That’s why married couple Nidhi Dwivedi and Arvind Gupta say they started their business — which they call Financial Vision — to help clients with estate planning, wills, trusts, as well as life and health insurance.
Nidhi explains that anyone who doesn’t have an estate plan in place could find themselves having to go to probate court, where a judge would decide what accounts they could access, which can take months to resolve.
“There is not only a financial cost,” explains Nidhi, “but also the struggle while someone is already going through the emotional difficulties of losing their spouse.”
Arvind adds, “Many people do not know about the importance of having a plan and appropriate documents in place for their family.”
That’s where Financial Vision can help. And, in addition to estate planning, Nidhi and Arvind also help clients with financial and retirement planning and saving to pay for college for their kids.
The couple lives in K-Bar Ranch in New Tampa with their children, ages 15 and 9. Both Nidhi and Arvind are information technology (IT) professionals who have long dreamed of owning their own business. They have lived in Tampa since 2007, when they moved here from India.
Nidhi says her husband always hoped to move to the United States, and now they are living their shared dream of being entrepreneurs, with the freedom to both provide for their family’s needs and to have the flexibility to travel back to India to care for her aging parents whenever needed.
When they realized the great need for education on financial matters, Nidhi worked to become licensed as a life and health insurance agent through the State of Florida. She often meets with clients, while Arvind works as her support “staff.” They launched their business in May of 2023, so they have been helping clients get their financial matters in order for more than a year now.
Being a licensed life and health insurance agent means Financial Vision has access to many large companies — such as Nationwide, Fidelity and others — that offer products such as life insurance and annuities to help clients plan for their retirement and other long-term savings.
Financial Vision offers a complimentary consultation, which can be conveniently held in your home or even online if you prefer.
“During this consultation session,” Nidhi explains, “we delve into crucial topics such as understanding the mechanics of money, the significance of financial planning and the essentials of estate planning, including wills, trusts and strategies for avoiding probate. We also provide insights into how taxes and market volatility can impact financial stability, especially during retirement.”
She says she and Arvind believe that financial decisions should be a shared responsibility within the household, so they make it a point to engage both spouses in educational sessions to ensure that both partners are equipped to actively participate in managing their financial affairs.
On the estate planning side, they help people document who will be the guardian of their minor children in case something unfortunate happens, and explain documents such as wills and trusts, living wills and powers of attorney.
Nidhi and Arvind say that the process may prove to be easier than you think, and the idea that you have to have a lawyer prepare these types of documents is a common misconception.
They work with an online provider called Net Law, which complements their educational services.
“Don’t procrastinate,” says Arvind. “This is important. I feel passionate about it because we have understood first-hand why you need to have it, and the cost of not having it.”
They say that, especially if you have children, estate planning is essential, and Net Law offers a package for families at what Arvind calls an “optimized” cost.
“It’s almost DIY,” he says. “You can do the paperwork at home, take it to a notary, and it’s done. It doesn’t take hours. It takes maybe an hour and it will really help you.”
While Nidhi is licensed in Florida and based in New Tampa, she also is licensed in all 50 states and has helped clients across the country, as well.
Joining The Team!
Now that their business is established, Nidhi and Arvind are looking for partners (photo) to help them expand Financial Vision.
If you or someone you know is interested in getting licensed and being trained by Nidhi to learn about financial services and all that they do, they welcome you to contact them.
“You don’t need a financial services background,” Arvind says. “We’ll guide you and explain everything you need to know. This is a part-time opportunity for anyone with a passion for helping people and a willingness to learn…someone who is looking to bring in additional income.”
One business partner they are already working with is a friend who was first a client, Kanchan Mishra.
“We wanted to secure our family with estate planning and have the will and trust done,” says Kanchan, who adds that she has learned so much — especially the value of understanding her family’s finances and not leaving it only in her husband’s hands.
Kanchan says that she used to think that since she’s not a citizen of the United States, she didn’t need to worry about estate planning, but she has come to learn that anyone who has any property or financial accounts in the U.S. should still have an estate plan.
To contact Financial Vision to set up a free consultation for estate planning, creating a will and trust, planning for rolling over a 401(k) retirement savings account, planning for retirement or your children’s college education, or if you’re looking into options for life insurance — or want to join the Financial Vision team, call (813) 390-1086 or (813) 385-1601. You also can email Nidhi@ financialvision.us or visit the website at FinancialVision.us.
The List Below Includes 150 Currently Open Restaurants Located Between Oak Grove Blvd. In Lutz & All Three Wesley Chapel Zip Codes!
We are planning to start our 2024 Reader Dining Survey & Contest in our next issue, but first, here is the list — that I hope is complete — of all of the sit-down and take-out restaurants located in all three Wesley Chapel zip codes and extending west to Oak Grove Blvd. in Lutz. If you see any that are missing from the list please email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com to let me know. Below this main list are additional lists of places that are bars only, coffee or dessert-only places & other food-oriented places that can’t, in all good conscience, be called “restaurants.”
