LARGO — As corporations swallow up local medical practices, Suncoast Family Medical Associates has become something of an anomaly, a family-owned center that keeps growing.
The Largo practice was recently named 2025 Business of the Year at the Seminole Chamber of Commerce’s 61st annual Mr. and Mrs. Seminole event.
Since opening in 1998, Suncoast has expanded four times on its 2 acres at 12020 Seminole Blvd., including once last year, and now serves about 7,000 patients across Largo, Seminole and greater Pinellas County. A high percentage came by referral.
Services range from small procedures — skin biopsies, incisions and joint injections — to removing a toenail. The practice also offers X-rays, dermatology and cardiac care.
“And hugs,” said Dr. Karen Joseph. “We give a lot of hugs.”
Owners Dr. Tyrone Tvedten and Dr. Jeff Grove say they’ve reached their limit.
“We can’t do another expansion,” Tvedten said. “Jeff and I have found it overwhelming and humbling but frightening to see all the growth. When I go to work, I see how many employee cars are in the parking lot, and we’re responsible for the salaries of all these people. We recently had a staff gathering at Topgolf, and we’ve exceeded our wildest dreams of success.”
Tvedten said patient visits have held steady over the years, but the biggest jump came in 2024, after corporations bought out a couple of local practices.
“People don’t want to talk to a call center in Miami or hear, ‘We can’t see you for six months,’” he said. “The philosophy Jeff and I had in our initial conversations was to put patient care first, and the money would come in later. We take our own X-rays and do IV therapy. We’re a master of all things.
“We have a pharmacy here so patients can get their medications. Our staff has gone to see patients at their houses. Our patients have felt taken care of. We also train our interns on how to treat patients. We don’t advertise; we’ve gotten many patients through word of mouth.”
Joseph said patients often come in for one issue and leave with a second one diagnosed and treated the same day. If a spouse tags along without an appointment, the staff tries to fit them in, too.
Spanish-speaking patients can be accommodated by staff who speak the language.
Around the clinic, there’s a saying about the length of the care: from womb to tomb, from cradle to grave.
“We have a generation of senior citizens who have seen us,” said Joseph, who has been with the clinic almost 10 years. “Now we’re getting to see patients’ siblings, spouses, their entire families. We want to be a one-stop shop, but it’s also important that we aren’t diluting the care provided here.”
Suncoast Family Medical Associates
Location: 12020 Seminole Blvd., Largo
In business since: 1998
Parent company: Paxton Medical
Patients: About 7,000
Service: Family medicine
Doctors: 9
Nurse practitioners: 4
Patient rooms: 32