By Sharon Still
Florida Hospital recently announced plans for a 5,000 sq.ft. urgent care facility to be located at 10222 Bloomingdale Ave. in front of the Target shopping center just east of U.S. Hwy. 301. Construction is underway and the Centra Care center is slated to open this fall.
Florida Hospital’s Centra Care has more than a dozen locations throughout the state and this will be the second one in the Tampa Bay area. The other is located in Wesley Chapel.
Services at Centra Care are available for urgent, non-life-threating conditions for adults and children older than six months. Family medicine, orthopedic and pediatric services are available. At Centra Care, there is an on-site laboratory, X-ray, EKG and other services. The Brandon location also will provide corporate services such as employee physicals, treatment of work-related injuries and drug testing for both public and private employers. Hospital-affiliated, board-certified doctors provide care six days a week without an appointment.
Florida Hospital’s Centra Care is part of a growing trend by area hospitals to move into the South County area both with large and smaller facilities. As we reported last month, in addition to the much-anticipated St. Joseph’s Hospital scheduled to open in 2015 on Big Bend Rd., BayCare opened a 40,000-sq.-ft. building for physicians on Big Bend Rd. Tampa General also has plans to open family doctors’ office facilities on Big Bend Rd. as well as Sun City Center. All of these new medical facilities are expected to bring an influx of jobs into the community.
“This is all very exciting for the SouthShore community,” remarked Melanie Morrison, executive director of the SouthShore Chamber of Commerce.
When opened, Brandon/Riverview Centra Care hours will be 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. Other locations offer treatment seven days a week; some are open until 12 midnight. Appointments will be available to schedule online for a no-wait appointment or by calling 438-5903. Visit www.centracare.org for more information.
