Plant City is now home to Florida Primary Care Centers of Tampa, LLC which acts as a family health center that works in collaboration with a patient’s health plan to create a “simple and assessable healthcare experience.”
What differentiates Florida Primary Care Centers of Tampa, LLC from so many other healthcare providers is it provides free social services to its patients. When a new client walks in the door experts are waiting to assist them in applying for a variety of programs like WIC and DCF. On the medical side, the patient is never billed for its services.
“Florida Primary Care Centers want to be a part of the community they serve,” Sheila Lopez, web room manager, said. “We offer social events that are completely free for the community. We do a kids month in December that has a toy drive and pictures with Santa and senior events to help bring the community together.”
The social center is open now Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and welcomes both those with an appointment and walk-ins. The medial center will be open later this summer. Lopez said the beauty of having a center like this so close to home is it allows people to go to one location to submit all of their paperwork.
The entire staff is bilingual and can speak English, Spanish, Creole, Arabic and Swahili, according to Community Liaison Manager Richard Abreu.
Abreu said ultimately the medical center will work as a “one stop shop” for patients. It will offer aid for Medicare, Medicaid and low income clients. Some of its services include physicals and sports physicals, free transportation to the center and specialists, in-house laboratory services, in-house diagnostics and more. Services like visual exams, labs, ultrasounds and pap smears can all be done via the center.
It also offers a rewards program called “Gateway to Health” that allows patients who practice a preventative attitude and lifestyle to receive incentives like a $25 gift card to Publix or Walmart. Patients can freely take part in a medical lecture series if they desire as well to become better informed about their health and learn ways to increase healthy living.
At the social center, Lopez said it is their mission to provide the best and friendliest services available in the area. While the center does not approve or deny any claims it does help answer client’s questions and aid them in the submitting process. It also will follow up with phone calls or in person to talk about their eligibility.
“We’re here for everyone,” Lopez said. “If you are willing to submit paperwork we are willing to help.”
The center is partnered with many local organizations like Bruton Memorial Library, the United Food Bank of Plant City, Liberty Church and more. Because of those connections, Lopez said it is able to help connect its clients with the aid they need. She said it also plans to give back and partner with the organizations it works with, which could include hosting a food drive or supporting the summer reading event at the library.
When looking at locations to establish a new center, the team found that Plant City truly had a need for its services. It has been open for two weeks and already has approximately 20 clients a day with the number continuously growing.
“Essentially Florida Family looks to have a social impact in the community,” Lopez said. “We are open to the general public, whether they walk in or call and set an appointment. All the services are for free. If there’s a service we cannot assist them with they will not leave the office without the information on where to go.”