Sulphur Springs Health Center to be Run by Private Clinic

From the Hillsborough County Health Department:

The Hillsborough County Health Department, (HCHD) will begin transitioning a 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, including the Sulphur Springs Health Center in Central Tampa.

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, visit hillscountyhealth.org.

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