Moffitt opens Tampa Bay’s first proton therapy center
LAND O’ LAKES — Tampa Bay’s first proton therapy center is set to open in Pasco County, giving cancer patients access to a form of radiation treatment without leaving the region.
Moffitt Cancer Center will cut the ribbon July 23 on the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Proton Center at Speros, its 775-acre innovation campus at 16370 Wilton Way.
Proton therapy uses focused beams of protons to hit tumors while sparing more of the healthy tissue around them. The center is built around a Proteus ONE system.
Moffitt is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Florida. The center will serve patients across the Tampa Bay area, including those who previously traveled out of the region for the treatment.
Wesley Chapel hospital cleared for emergency heart care
WESLEY CHAPEL — Heart attack patients in east Pasco County no longer have to be driven out of the area for emergency treatment.
BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel is now licensed to perform interventional coronary procedures, a step that lets doctors clear blocked arteries on site. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration designated the hospital a Level 1 adult cardiovascular services provider effective July 1.
The license requires hospitals to meet strict standards for cardiac catheterization volume, equipment, staffing, quality and safety.
Patients needing open-heart surgery or other complex procedures will still be transferred to BayCare’s Heart and Vascular Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa.
The hospital opened in 2023 as BayCare’s 16th. It joins 10 other BayCare hospitals offering advanced adult cardiac services.
Big builder buys into 1,500-acre Pasco community
LAND O’ LAKES — David Weekley Homes has bought 156 homesites in Verona, a master-planned community taking shape along State Road 52 in central Pasco County.
Home sales are expected to start in summer 2027.
Verona is being developed by Eisenhower Property Group on 1,500 acres and will hold about 2,500 homes from several builders. It’s the first deal between the two companies. Weekley will build single-family homes on 50 lots measuring 40 feet wide, 62 at 50 feet and 44 at 60 feet.
The project is carved out of a larger 3,500-acre property. About 2,000 acres will stay open space, farmland or recreation under a restrictive covenant with Pasco County.
Planned amenities include a clubhouse, fitness center, resort-style pool, pickleball courts, playgrounds, a dog park, picnic areas and trails. The site is near Wesley Chapel shopping and dining and close to Interstate 75.
Pasco tourism office earns global accreditation
NEW PORT RICHEY — Pasco County’s tourism arm has cleared an international bar for how a destination marketing office ought to run.
Florida’s Sports Coast has been accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program, administered by Destinations International. The review covers close to 100 standards spanning leadership, accountability, visitor services, technology, communications and long-range planning.
Fewer than 200 organizations worldwide hold the accreditation, including 23 in Florida.
Pasco County hiring at July 30 career fair
Pasco County is hiring, and managers will be interviewing on the spot.
The county’s Human Resources Department will hold a career fair from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. July 30 at Pasco County Extension Services, 36702 State Road 52 in Dade City. Applicants should bring several copies of their resume.
Open jobs include correctional officer trainees, 911 dispatchers, firefighters and paramedics, engineers, field inspectors, GoPasco bus drivers, equipment operators in Public Works, and positions in utilities and in parks, recreation and natural resources.
Details are at pascocountyfl.net.
New Port Richey opens sign-ups for Citizens Academy
NEW PORT RICHEY — The city started taking applications for its fall Citizens Academy starting on July 20.
The free eight-week program walks residents through how local government is organized and how services get funded and delivered. Classes meet Wednesdays from 6 to 8:30 p.m., moving around the city each week — City Hall, Public Works, the library, the Police Department, the new Fire Station No. 2, the Recreation & Aquatic Center and the wastewater treatment plant.
Applications are due Aug. 7. Classes begin Sept. 9.
The academy is open to city residents 21 and older. Non-residents can apply and may be approved at the city manager’s discretion.
The class schedule and application are at cityofnewportrichey.org.
Students trade the classroom for a credit union teller line
Six high school students are spending this summer working at Achieva Credit Union branches — serving members, processing transactions and getting paid for it.
They got there through a personal financial literacy course taught by Chad Mallo, who spent two decades in banking before he started teaching. When he was handed the curriculum three years ago, he noticed it tracked closely with the Certified Financial Counselor credential he had earned as an Achieva employee.
So he called Achieva’s CEO. The deal that came out of it lets up to 10 students a year earn that certification, a credential the credit union normally reserves for select employees. Students who pass become eligible for paid internships.
This summer’s group — Chris Vargas, Jacob Malone, Kendyl Mathews, Samuel Ossa, Santanna Broxton and Sarah Daniel — is working across three branches under the Students on the Job Learning program.
It’s the second summer of the partnership. Mallo said he hopes to expand it.