WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — AdventHealth Wesley Chapel will mark its 10th anniversary next month.

A lot has changed during the past decade, but one of the first surgeons to operate in the hospital, Dr. Vijay Ferris, still treats patients there.

"I applied for privileges here as one of the senior surgeons on faculty and staff here, and chose to take the first week of call in the emergency room, which nobody else wanted to do, being a new hospital," he said. "So, it was a little exciting for me."

Ferris said at the time, it was the only hospital in Wesley Chapel, where he's lived for more than 25 years.

"It meant everything," he said. "The hospitals are not that close to this hospital. So, if you have a hospital within a couple of miles radius from where you live, emergency rooms close by, you feel it's part of your community ... and that's what patients appreciate and love about this hospital."

The hospital grew alongside the community. According to an AdventHealth spokesperson, Wesley Chapel added 86 beds, eight operating rooms and 15 ER beds since opening. The hospital has served 800,000 patients in its 10 years.

From October 2012-March 2022, 5,127 babies have been delivered and 55,818 surgeries have been performed. More recently, Ferris became one of those patients himself.

"I needed a surgical procedure done, and I chose my doctors, who I respect and I work with, colleagues in the hospital, and decided to have my procedure done here," he said. "Little did I know it would be done in the same operating room that I did the first operation. It just happened to be that way — It was deja vu, I guess."

Ferris said he's doing well and looks forward to what the future has in store for the hospital.