Business
Business Feb.21,2008 Brandon Hospital, Entree Vous
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Feb 21, 2008 - 1:36:39 PM

Brandon Regional Hospital to Expand by 40 Beds

Michael Fencel, CEO of Brandon Regional Hospital, announced that the hospital is expanding again, this time with a build-out of the Tower A fourth floor, which will house a comprehensive Neuro­sciences Center and 40 addi­tional acute care beds, bringing the hospital’s bed total to 407 when completed. The Center will include a 10-bed Neurosciences Critical Care service, and a 30-bed ­specialty unit, at an anticipated cost of $13.1 million.

The premier focus at the Neurosciences Center will be on providing the latest technology and treatment of brain injuries, including strokes. Brandon is an accredited Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission, which is the gold standard in stroke care today. The hospital is staffed and equipped to provide the highest level of stroke care in the emergency department and on patient floors, around the clock. This dedicated unit allows for specialized nursing care in neurosciences.  

The design of the fourth floor is similar in scope and color to the fifth floor, which opened last year.  Neuroscience Director Melissa Cole intends to create a friendly, warm environment for patients, visitors, staff and physicians. Construction should begin by March 2008 with the projected completion by the end of the year.

Tower A is a five-story addition, located off the main entrance on Parsons Avenue. It originally opened in 2003 to house the hospital’s cardiac surgery program, ­expanded day surgery program and included the completion of the first and second floors and a six-story parking garage. Fencel notes, “As the community continues to grow and the need for more sophis­ticated services and technologies expand, we are prepared to ­respond to meet those needs through expansion and the addition of new programs and services.”   

In addition to adding 80 ­licensed acute care beds in the last two years, the hospital added two ­major ­pieces of equipment in 2007, ­including a 64-slice VCT scanner that allows physicians to better ­diagnose cardiac symptoms, almost immediately.

According to Gary Litvin, Brandon Regional Radiology Director, “The 64-slice VCT has been an outstanding complement to the hospital’s cardiac program. It is a superior screening tool for non-specific cardiac symptoms and is far less invasive than a heart catheterization.  For patients, this means they are diagnosed quickly, with less pain and when cardiac problems are ruled out, they can return home sooner. Another unique feature of the VCT is that it can accommodate patients of all sizes, from the morbidly obese to the smallest infant. Overall, the device gives better quality imaging even for vascular workups on the legs and brain.”

In addition to the 64-slice VCT, the hospital also purchased a CT scanner dedicated to the hospital’s Emergency Department. “Patients no longer have to leave the area to receive CT scans, which are used to diagnose a wide range of emergency  symptoms and conditions, including strokes. Keeping the patient in the department also improves patient safety and communication by maintaining a higher volume of caregivers within close proximity to the patient,” says Randy Spivey, Director of Emergency Services.

Fencel attributes the increased capital improvements to his directors and physicians staying abreast of the leading technologies that will best serve their patients. It takes careful planning on their part a year in advance to anticipate how they can best utilize the new equipment in their areas.

Brandon Regional Hospital is a 367-bed acute care facility which has recently received Chest Pain Center with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) and JCAHO Primary Stroke Center certification. Major services include the Heart and Vascular Institute, Spine Center of West Florida, Baby Place with Level III Neonatal Intensive Care and Company Care.

Entrée Vous to Open in Riverview

As it becomes more and more difficult to get the family around the dinner table, a new dinner assembly concept is making it easier to cope with the challenge. Entrée Vous, the make and take kitchen is opening in Riverview in just a couple of weeks.

The concept is simple and fun. Guests go online and choose from a variety of entrees. Then, they select a date that they want to create the dinners in Entrée Vous’ kitchen. Entrée Vous does all the prep work – slicing, dicing, chopping, peeling, blending sauces and marinades from scratch. All guests have to do is show up, put the ingredients together and take the dinners home to their freezers. Guests are encouraged to get groups of friends together to make the process even more enjoyable.  In less than two hours, guests have prepared nearly a month’s worth of supper entrees for about $3.50 per serving and no kitchen cleanup.
Another popular option is to order meals and have Entrée Vous assemble them for convenient pickup.

“Our use of fresh ingredients, homemade sauces and recipes created by a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef is what sets Entrée Vous apart,” said Bill McCarthy. “I researched others companies using the same concept but found there was no comparison in taste and quality.”
The concept began in Lexington, Ky., when chef and caterer Harriet Dupree Bradley saw a need to help her clients get dinner on the table. She’d been assisting people with special events for years, but the need for non-event dinners was growing. She was receiving requests from clients for items such as a casserole to send to a bereaved friend, nutritious food for elderly parents who don’t cook and just getting the family dinner done several nights a week.   

“As a working mother, I know the pressure of having to put fresh, tasty, nutritious dinners on the table night after night,” Dupree Bradley said. “Entrée Vous is a smart new way to make this happen. It lets busy moms feel good about the food they serve their families while saving them precious time.”

Bill, Robin and Ryan McCarthy decided to become an Entrée Vous franchisee because they believe so strongly in the concept.

Entrée Vous will open February 25, at 13433 Boyette Rd.

For more information, call 813-436-9205 or log on to www.entreevous.com.

Penny Heinz Added to Sales Team

Penny Heinz has joined Weichert, Realtors® -- SouthShore as a specialist in residential sales.  A member of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors®, she serves Tampa, Southern Hillsborough County, the SouthShore and surrounding areas. Broker/Owner Colin Howgill welcomed Heinz saying, “As the former owner/manager of a small business, Penny comes to the company well-versed in important areas of sales such as organization, follow-through and attention to details.”

Heinz, a Tampa native, resides in Apollo Beach with husband Tom.  Prior to entering the real ­estate profession, she earned an associate degree in physical therapy, graduating with high honors, and owned/managed a small business.  She enjoys interior design and gardening. Avid boaters, the ­couple are members of the MiraBay ­Boating Club. They attend Grace Lutheran Church.

Weichert, Realtors® -- SouthShore is located at 237 Apollo Beach Blvd., Apollo Beach.





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