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Community health center breaks ground in Tarpon Springs

By Rita Farlow, Times Staff Writer
In print: Saturday, June 7, 2008

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TARPON SPRINGS — Call it a field of dreams.

Elected officials and nonprofit board members recently gathered at a vacant lot on Huey Avenue to break ground on the new Community Health Center of Tarpon Springs.

The center will sit behind St. Timothy's Evangelical Lutheran Church, which donated the 1-acre lot for the project. Located next to a bus stop and a short walk from a grocery store and the post office, the site couldn't be more perfect, officials said.

"It's a real prime location," said the Rev. Curt Snare of St. Timothy's. "It's just a joy to know how many people are going to be helped."

A year or so from now the center will provide primary medical care and preventative services for adults and children, regardless of their ability to pay.

"It's for every single resident of Tarpon Springs," said Vice Mayor Robin Saenger. "It couldn't come at a better time."

An existing Tarpon Springs center opened in 2004 at the county Health Department office on S Disston Ave. That center has logged more than 10,000 visits in the past four years, said Joe Santini, director of business development for Community Health Centers of Pinellas.

The nonprofit organization runs five federally qualified health care centers throughout Pinellas.

Services will continue at that spot until the new facility is opened sometime next year, Santini said.

Construction and equipment for the new facility will be funded by a $1.2-million federal appropriation awarded in 2004 that was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, and former U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs.

"It's finally here. It's hard to believe," said Bilirakis, who attended the ground breaking with his wife, Evelyn.

Bilirakis' son, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, helped the project during his tenure as a state legislator by creating a panel to oversee the allocation of Medicaid funds to community health center facilities.

"We made this a family project and finally it came through," Gus Bilirakis said.

Centers such as the one planned in Tarpon Springs can defray emergency room and long-term care costs and provide important health and wellness services to those without health insurance, Gus Bilirakis said.

"It's so crucial we have this center," he said.

The nonprofit Community Health Centers of Pinellas served more than 22,000 people last year at five primary care locations throughout the county, Santini said.

At the Tarpon Springs location, patients are charged using a sliding fee scale, which is based on income.

The Tarpon Springs center will be the first Community Health Center to use a paperless, electronic patient records system, said Pat Mabe, chief executive officer of Community Health Centers of Pinellas.

The one-story, 8,000-square-foot facility will include 15 exam rooms and a pharmacy. Construction could be finished by March, officials said.

Rita Farlow can be reached at farlow@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4162.