PARTNERSHIP WILL BOOST BABY BIRTHS AT HOSPITAL
August 2, 2012 
Plant City Observer 

South Florida Baptist Hospital expects to double its number of baby deliveries.
By Amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer

Thanks to a new partnership between Plant City Family Care and South Florida Baptist Hospital, as many as 400 more births annually may take place at the Plant City hospital.

That increase would double the current number of births at South Florida Baptist.
Plant City Family Care is one of seven clinics operated by Suncoast Community Health Center. For years, Plant City Family Care contracted a group of midwives based in Tampa to provide prenatal care to its patients.

“The previous contractor did a fantastic job, but all the babies were being born at Tampa General,” Brad Herremans, Suncoast Community Health Center CEO, said.

Last year, 415 women with Plant City zip codes delivered at Tampa General Hospital, because the midwives referred patients there.

Steve Nierman, COO at South Florida Baptist Hospital, approached Herremans about a year ago to discuss a new model. Nierman suggested using two midwives employed with South Florida Baptist Hospital, Carolyn Reneau and Carol Thompson, instead of contracting out to the Tampa midwives group.

Reneau and Thompson worked under Dr. Chumphol Mahapaurya for 15 years in South Florida Baptist’s Focus program, which provided midwifery training and services. When Mahapaurya died last year from cancer, the midwives were employed on the obstetrics floor as nurses.

But beginning Sept. 1, the midwives will be contracted out to Plant City Family Care to provide prenatal care and will refer patients to South Florida Baptist. The model is similar to another partnership between Brandon Community Health Center and Brandon Regional Hospital.

“The real advantage to that is that we are able to involve our medical staff doctors in the prenatal care that is being provided by our midwives and then schedule the delivery right here with our doctors,” Nierman said. “So, these women now will get their prenatal care just like they always did from a nurse midwife, but when it comes time to deliver, first off, they will be delivered by a doctor, and it will be right here in Plant City.

“We’re excited about it,” he said. “That’s our mission: to improve access to quality care and services. We have a hospital right here that provides that.”

Under the former model, some expectant mothers could not make the trip to Tampa General Hospital in time to deliver. This caused an estimated two women per month to have an unplanned delivery at South Florida Baptist.

“We have a perfectly good hospital here,” Herremans said. “There’s no reason expectant mothers should be going to Tampa.”

Plant City Family Care, located on North Maryland Avenue, provides inexpensive care to migrant and lower-income families. Recently, 3,000 square feet were added along with a radiology department and pharmacy, making it a one-stop clinic. A pediatrics clinic, also part of Suncoast Community Health Center, is located on Mobley Street. The Suncoast Community Health Center network is federally funded.

Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.



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For Immediate Release
July 22, 2011

Contact:
Steve Huard, Public Information Officer
Hillsborough County Health Department
(813) 307-8044, Office; (813) 298-2024, Cell


Hillsborough County Health Department Partners with Local Federally Qualified Health Center’s to Continue Six Community Clinics

TAMPA – The Hillsborough County Health Department, (HCHD) will begin transitioning our network of six community clinics that provide personal health care to children and pregnant women to the two Federally Qualified Health Care Centers, Tampa Family and Suncoast Community Health Centers that provide medical care to the same population in Hillsborough County.

The transition will occur over the next several months, with an implementation date of September 1st.

“This is a win-win partnership for our community, “said Dr. Doug Holt, Director of the HCHD. “Our patients will continue to receive first class health services, from the same providers and staff at the same locations, regardless of their ability to pay.”

All six clinic locations will remain open in their current locations. Tampa Family and Suncoast Community Health centers will assume all management, and clinical operations. Additionally, WIC, (Women, Infants and Children) services will remain with the Health Department and will continue to be co-located in these community clinics.

According to Holt, the goal of this public-private partnership is to effectively strengthen the health care system in Hillsborough County by eliminating current redundancies while ensuring access to quality health care.

“This partnership will ensure that these six clinics will continue to serve over 19,000 patients in Hillsborough County” said Holt. “I think one of the most important elements of this partnership is the value and desire Tampa Family and Suncoast placed on retaining our current clinic staff,” said Holt. “At the end of the day, these are the folks that have made our clinics so successful and a major reason that this partnership was possible.”

Tampa Family Health Centers, established in 1984, currently operates eight clinics, one mobile medical van, and one mobile dental van. In addition to the pediatric, family practice and internal medicine services furnished at all sites, five of the centers operate dental clinics, four have on-site pharmacies and one is equipped with an X-ray department.

“At Tampa Family, our core mission is providing quality, caring, and accessible health care to our culturally diverse community,” said Charles Bottoms, Chief Executive Officer, Tampa Family Health Centers. “Partnering with the health department is a natural fit for us; we look forward to serving their clients, and working with their current staff.”

Suncoast Community Health, established in 1977, currently operates four clinics, and two dental outreach programs that include our state of the art dental coach that we proudly displayed in this year’s Strawberry Festival Parade and several other outreach programs in the community.

“We look forward to partnering with the Hillsborough County Health Department and the opportunity to provide quality and timely care at affordable prices to their current clients and our future clients.” said Bradley Herremans, Chief Executive Officer, Suncoast Community Health. “Providing high quality healthcare is a responsibility that we at Suncoast take very seriously.”

According to the partnership agreement, the HCHD will begin transitioning its staff and clients as well as the use of the facilities and equipment to the FQHC’s in the coming months.

“We are committed to continuing to provide quality services to the residents in our county who are in need of our services,” said Holt. “We will continue to seek ways to promote, protect, and improve the health of all in our community.”

The Health Center sites that will be transitioning are as follows:

To Tampa Family Health Centers:
Floyd Kelton Health Center, 4704-B Montgomery Ave. Tampa, 33616
North Hillsborough Health Center, 9827 N. Sheldon Road, Tampa 33635
Sulphur Springs Health Center, 8605 N. Mitchell Ave., Tampa 33604
University Health Center, 13601 n. 22nd. Ave., Tampa 33613

To Suncoast Health Centers:
Plant City Health Center, 302 N. Michigan Ave., Plant City 33566
Joyce Ely Health Center, 205 14th. Ave. SE, Ruskin 33570

The Health Department will continue to offer WIC (Women, Infants and Children) services at each of our current locations throughout Hillsborough County. If you think you are pregnant, or you are breastfeeding, or have a child under 5 years old, please call 307-8074. WIC provides healthy food, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health care services. All WIC services are provided free of charge.

For more information about the Hillsborough County Health Department, please visit www.hillscountyhealth.org, on the web.

For general information about Federally Qualified Health Centers, please visit http://www.cms.gov/center/fqhc.asp, for Tampa Family Health Centers, http://www.tampachc.com/tampachc.htm, and Suncoast Health Centers http://www.suncoast-chc.org,

 

 A year of hard work has ended and Suncoast can proudly add the title of Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare to its list of accomplishments. Recently Suncoast underwent a thorough review of policies, procedures and ways of caring for its patients and rose to the challenge! Suncoast Community Health Centers, Inc. have "raised the bar" on patient care and will continue to maintain the standards set by this organization. Way to Go!


This health center is a Health Center Program grantee under 42 U.S.C. 254b, and a deemed Public Health Service employee under 42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n). 

SUNCOAST COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, Chief Executive Officer

Bradley Herremans, former Chief Adminstrative Officer of Suncoast, has been promoted to the role of CEO. Mr. Herremans joined the Suncoast team three years ago and brought with him, over twenty years of healthcare experience and expertise. Mr. Herremans' served for the United States Air Force as Chief of Staff for the Surgeon General and in several managed care roles. Mr. Herremans' vision for the future of Suncoast, includes the expansion and renovation of facilities, as well as increasing access to care for members of the local community. For more on his goals and objectives, see Message from the CEO