New USF clinic a sweet addition to Delhaize-owned Sweetbay

TAMPA, Fla. —The Sweetbay supermarket chain may not be well known outside of west central Florida, but the food chain continues to make a name for itself in national healthcare circles, thanks to an innovative relationship with the University of South Florida.

The 104-unit Sweetbay chain teamed up with the expansive USF Health organization, which operates hospitals and medical colleges, to open its first in-store wellness clinic under the brand name USF Health Neighborhood Care Center. The alliance gives the clinic inside the Sweetbay store instant credibility because USF Health is a name well known to those in the Tampa area, as countless patients receive treatment from USF-affiliated doctors and the university has a student enrollment of roughly 46,000.

The clinic is staffed by nurse practitioners who offer the familiar range of such non-urgent services as physicals, immunizations, health screenings and minor illness diagnosis and treatment. To simplify the experience for customers, the clinic is located adjacent to the Sweetbay pharmacy, which was heavily promoted for the recent grand opening, including a $25 gift card for new or transferred prescriptions. Depending on the diagnosis, the patient benefit that results from Sweetbay’s affiliation with USF Health is that the nurse practitioners can refer patients to the more than 350 doctors who comprise the USF physicians group.

The clinic opening was a significant development for Sweetbay and a continuation of a relationship with USF Health that began last year when Sweetbay was selected to open two pharmacies inside USF facilities. One of those is located inside the new state-of-the-art Carol and Frank Morsani Center for Advance Healthcare. The nearly 200,000-sq.-ft., six-story facility offers outpatient care in such areas as breast surgery; gynecology; ear, nose and throat; general surgery; orthopedics; physical therapy; and plastic surgery—and the Sweetbay pharmacy is located on the ground floor.

If the Sweetbay name is unfamiliar, don’t feel bad. It was created in 2004 when the company underwent a major remodeling effort and abandoned its old Kash ’n Karry name, which had little brand equity. Sweetbay is owned by Belgium-based Delhaize Group, which also owns Food Lion and Hannaford.