The Journey
In 1994, other physicians in the area took notice of the group, and that same year, the first physician from the community approached and joined the group. Later that year, FMC was joined by a Tampa physician’s office —officially expanding services into Hillsborough County.
As word of Florida Medical Clinic spread, more health care providers joined the ranks, and, in 1995, the growing physician group was able to open the first Multi-Specialty Campus in a 55,000 sq. ft. facility in Zephyrhills. The facility included Florida Medical Clinic’s first Ambulatory Surgery Center and other expanded patient services including radiology and lab services to better care for the specific needs of patients.
Expansion and Growth
By 1998, Florida Medical Clinic opened a second location in Pasco County in Dade City—a 32,000 sq. ft. multi-specialty facility. As growth continued that year, an orthopedic group in Tampa merged with Florida Medical Clinic, further expanding patient care capabilities.
Expansion continued into 2002. Florida Medical Clinic opened its first location in Wesley Chapel in a 10,000 sq. ft facility. Two years later, in 2004, FMC opened a 45,000 sq. ft. North Tampa building to house the second ambulatory surgery center, combined with physician offices across several medical disciplines allowing patients greater access to care.
In 2005, Florida Medical Clinic merged with the HeartCare cardiology group at a 10,500 sq. ft. location in Tampa. As the medical group grew in size and scope of services, FMC turned toward improving the philanthropic needs in the communities it serves thus establishing the Florida Medical Clinic Foundation of Caring. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, the Foundation of Caring helps those most in need through volunteerism and direct community investment. Since its inception the Foundation has maintained the original intent to invest Foundation of Caring donations solely in the communities and not in patient services or other internal uses.
Strengthening the Infrastructure
By 2006, the evolving digital world developed more opportunities to provide improved patient care. Florida Medical Clinic fully integrated the practice platform to Intergy EHR electronic health records, making care seamless, cost effective, and convenient for patients and providers.
In 2007, the total number of employees at Florida Medical Clinic surpassed 600. Dr. Chandresh Saraiya spearheaded a new initiative to grow the population health management services, which furthered the mission of providing excellent, cost-effective care to patients and the community.
After 15 years of continuous growth, Florida Medical Clinic’s year-end revenue topped more than $100 million by 2008. The business/administrative team expanded to meet the needs of the company growth with the addition of CFO Chris Alvarez, and CAO Gus Taylor in 2009. That year, Florida Medical Clinic opened a new location in Land O’ Lakes, a 32,000 sq. ft. building that would later expand to house the administrative headquarters in 2011.
Florida Medical Clinic was founded on a belief that patients deserve quality affordable care. In 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded Florida Medical Clinic an ACO contract further improving care through its expansive network of doctors. Construction continued in the Zephyrhills facilities with a new and larger capacity Ambulatory Surgery Center and a free-standing Urgent Care facility.
Florida Medical Clinic reached a new milestone in 2013: the Florida Medical Clinic team grew to over 1,000 employees across all campuses, just in time for FMC’s 20th anniversary.
Enriching patient services was the initiative through 2014 and 2015. Florida Medical Clinic established a network-wide Advanced Care Directives Planning program to empower patients to have more autonomy over their medical decisions and the first Coordinated Care Managers team was hired to help patients navigate care from multiple providers.
In 2015, an organizational wide Quality Performance and Improvement approach was established. Using measures and metrics to evaluate the quality of care delivered, Florida Medical Clinic was able to improve the extent of defined standards, and quality of patient care. Additionally, Meaningful Use government standards were standardized and implemented clinic wide to improve the collaboration between healthcare platforms.
On the expansion front, FMC opened the doors to a new 25,000 sq. ft. Carrollwood facility in North Tampa, which was followed by a 25,000 sq. ft. Brandon facility, and a 90,000 sq. ft. facility in Wiregrass on Bruce B Downs Blvd both opening in 2016.
