Over 200 community partners, organization friends and supporters gathered to experience Premier Community HealthCare’s (Premier) 2nd Annual Community Impact Breakfast held at Hyatt Place, Wesley Chapel/Lutz. The theme of the event was ‘A Legacy of Compassionate Care’ and ceremony highlights included the emcee. Tim Wronka of Spectrum Bay News 9, the keynote presentation by Pasco County Tax Collector, Mike Fasano and a heartwarming, inspiring patient testimonial delivered by Ms. Maria Johnson.

All in attendance also were the first to witness the debut and reveal of two capital projects Premier is actively fundraising to support. New community health centers are coming to Zephyrhills and New Port Richey. Premier has a goal to raise $1 dollars toward the two capital projects, which when completed in spring and summer of 2023, will continue its mission of ensuring accessible and affordable healthcare for community area residents.

As Mike Fasano shared during his keynote, “To this very day, I find the efforts of all involved incredibly commendable. Thanks to what Premier Community HealthCare has become, many of our residents here in the community can retain peace of mind in knowing that they have continuous access to health care, regardless of their personal situation”

Fasano continued to explain to the attendees, “When it comes to healthcare, Premier Community HealthCare is without a doubt our region’s safety net, as they provide quality care at an affordable cost to all. That being said, unless they rise to meet demand with additional facilities, many of their patients will begin to face access barriers to care. Over the last five years, Premier has seen a 64% increase in the number of patients who walk through their doors. It is a number that continues to rise concurrently with the population.”

New this year, the event also helped recognize outstanding community members and organizational partners of Premier. Thirty nominations were submitted to honor a person, group and/or business for their work to improve health of medically underserved populations in Pasco and Hernando counties. There were three finalists in each category, highlighting their advocacy and action, all while uplifting Premier’s mission. “We are grateful for opportunity to recognize those that have conveyed compassion and significant contributions to improve the health of people in our community. We could have easily recognized every person in the audience for playing a vital role with our community health center” commented CEO, Joey Resnick.

Congratulates to all nominees, finalists and the planning committee that made the final selections. The honorable Judge Lynn Tepper and Gulfcoast North Area Health Education Center were the awardees at the event.

The 2nd Annual Community Impact Breakfast commemorated a major milestone in Premier’s 43rd year history as it launched its first major capital campaign and raised over $100,000 through sponsorships, pledges and gifts made at the event. Resnick conveys “we are touched by the generosity of our community and will continue to stay focused on our mission of improving access to healthcare for all”. Trailblazer investors to the campaign that have pledged support and made gifts already were also highlighted at the event. The capital campaign funds pledged and raised thus far is: $252,352.

Overall, the two projects will be an $18.5 million dollar investment in Pasco County.

For more information about Premier or donate to support the vision of two new community health centers, visit www.premierhc.org.