New Orthopedist Settles On Brooksville
BROOKSVILLE –
Daniel Moynihan heard his share of barbs before he left Los Angeles.
He was a month away from starting his practice 2,500 miles away in Brooksville.
Most people didn’t know where it was, but they knew it sounded small. It also happened to be in Florida.
“You know, there are hurricanes over there,” someone joked as Moynihan, an orthopedic surgeon, worked on his patient.
Seconds later, the room began to shake. A magnitude 5.8 earthquake caused the entire building to sway from side to side. Moynihan used his body to cover his patient from falling instruments and surgical equipment. He also needed to hold him still.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to die right here,'” he said.
The shaking stopped and Moynihan and his staff could return to work.
Hurricanes suddenly didn’t seem as dangerous. At least they come after some warning.
Four months ago, Moynihan opened the West Coast Musculoskeletel Institute. He needed some help, so he recruited his family.
His older brother, Eugene, 40, is a former SWAT member on the New York Police Department. He is now the office manager.
His younger brother, Bryan, 32, is finishing his studies at Hofstra University in Long Island, N.Y., and will soon join Moynihan as his physician’s assistant.
“We chose to come down here because it’s a better place to raise your kids,” said the eldest brother. “It still has a New York flavor.”
Don’t tell the brothers Spring Hill is just like where they’re from.
“Spring Hill really isn’t much like Long Island,” Eugene Moynihan said. “It’s about 30 degrees up there right now.”
His wife and his brother’s also work with them.
The Brooksville-born receptionist is the only non-Moynihan working in the office, located at 14555 Cortez Blvd., just west of the Suncoast Parkway. It is strategically wedged between Spring Hill and Brooksville.
The building was purchased in July. By Sept. 1, they had occupied it.
“Yeah, it was a quick move,” Eugene Moynihan said. “We had a really good contractor.”
The workers tore out pink carpet, peeled off the 1970s-era wallpaper and replaced the furniture. More work is expected, but the offices, lobby area and exam rooms are finished.
Daniel Moynihan knew where he wanted to be just a few months before he moved.
Some of his spine surgeon colleagues work in Pasco County. Knowing they came to an area that needed doctors, he decided to visit.
One morning on a boat off the coast of Homosassa was all it took.
“We went fishing,” he said, referring to him and his older brother. “After that, we knew where we wanted to stay.”
Moynihan is a general orthopedist, focused on arthroscopy, which is a minimally invasive surgery on the joints. It involes a camera and smaller incisions.
He provides services at all three of the county’s hospitals, but said the equipment at Oak Hill Hospital is among the best he has seen in his career.
“The medical industry here is pretty forward-thinking,” he said. “This is the way medicine is going.”
An electrician until he was 25 years old, Moynihan attended Stony Brook University and then medical school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
His residency was at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute (SCOI) in Los Angeles.
Biz at a glance:
Name of biz – West Coast Musculoskeletal Institute
Owner – Dr. Daniel P. Moynihan
What it is – Orthopedics and sports medicine
Where it is – 14555 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville
Get in touch – 352-556-4823
Hours of operation – 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday
Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or [email protected].
