Only In Florida? Hopefully Not When It Comes To Hospital Rezoning

Commentary submitted by CCMA adhoc committee against rezoning East Venice Avenue -- Jim Bencivenga and Mary-Jo Cooney

"Only in Florida"

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Only in Florida!” It refers to an incident or account of an exceptionally irrational event.

Let's hope we don’t hear it with regards to the proposed zoning change for a new hospital on East Venice Avenue in Venice.

“Only in Florida” would someone propose to build a hospital with the Jacaranda roundabout, the one with the highest number of annual accidents for a traffic circle in the county, as the primary road for ambulances and fire trucks racing to the hospital. What could go wrong?

Is there another main road for getting to the hospital you ask? River Road, the two lane road connecting Englewood to I-75, the one with the highest number of accidents in the county. The road that is a frequent news feature for local TV and newspapers. What could go wrong?

Who is proposing this “Only in Florida” rezoning? An out-of-state Tennessee multi-billion dollar company, the parent of Venice Regional Bayfront Hospital, Community Health Systems Inc. (CHS). A for-profit health provider, it is 25 percent owned by a Singapore=based Chinese billionaire; along with a coterie of legal paladins who just might have further real estate development on their mind.

CHS is now the largest operator of for-profit hospitals in the US. Since CHS purchased VRBH in 2013, the hospital nearly lost its medical certification on two occasions due to sewage, rodent infestations and other “Only in Florida” issues.

Some points for county commissioners in denying the rezone request:

* Local taxpayers would have to fund part of the expansion of East Venice Avenue from two to four lanes. Just when state money would kick in is not known but likely years away (like the eventual widening of River Road from two lanes to four).

* The VRBH siting is not in keeping with the 2016 Sarasota Comprehensive Plan. The hospital is asking for a rezoning from SR Residential 3 to Office-Professional-Institutional, a Comprehensive Plan Amendment and a Special Exception for the height restriction from 35 feet to 85 feet.

* Light and noise pollution from the requested 85-foot building sprouting in a 35-foot residentially zoned area.

* Paving of the site, including the 1,485 parking spaces, could exacerbate downstream flooding of Hatchett and Curry creeks. Just how much runoff from development can these waterways sustain?

* The near certainty that future zoning changes will follow to accommodate support medical and professional services linked to the new hospital. A zoning change would attract additional non-residential entities to adjacent parcels.

* More than 4,000 homeowners who thought they had moved into a residential neighborhood would be adversely and irrevocably impacted. As far as we can tell, this is the only such request for a zoning change in Florida, ever, to build an entirely new hospital rather than locating it in an already-zoned area (of which many exist in and around Venice). This is not a request to add on to an existing medical complex as has been done in Sarasota or Ft. Meyers. Why? Because such a medical complex does not exist on East Venice and, in our opinion, should not exist. Granting a zoning change would be the proverbial bulldozer’s nose under the tent.

* According to Wikipedia, Community Health Systems Inc. (CHS) has paid over $200 million to the U.S. Department of Justice to settle sundry violations. These included penalties for violations of the False Claims Act, a variety of claims relating to Medicaid and Medicare over billing, and excessive hospital admissions. There have also been settlements of a private suit between investors and CHS executives for breach of fiduciary duty and for wrongful termination of a former CFO in a whistle blower lawsuit.

* Bayfront hospital still needs to get its quality care ratings up from hospital certification boards. It certainly needs to find a location in a commercially zoned area with existing infrastructure and roads - not a residential, two=lane road that requires complete rezoning and neighborhood mutation.

In short, we do not find CHS to be a good corporate citizen and its financial position does not appear solid. We certainly look askance at its protestations that it is a local hospital looking out for the local community when there are other better and more appropriately zoned locations. Granting a rezoning needlessly crushes neighborhoods surrounding East Venice Avenue.

Say "no: to this “Only in Florida,” request.