Miami health group acquires Lakewood Ranch pediatric practice

A Miami health care group specializing in pediatric primary care has acquired a pediatric practice in Lakewood Ranch.

Pediatrica Health Group recently completed the acquisition of Capote Pediatrics, which has been renamed Pediatrica of Lakewood Ranch. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dr. Jessica Capote, who previously owned Capote Pediatrics, sold the practice after 20 years so she could teach medical students as an assistant professor at the University of Florida. Capote sought out Pediatrica Health Group to take over due to its commitment to patient families and selected her replacement, Dr. Neta Strum, according to a statement.

“As I step into the next chapter of teaching future physicians, it brings me peace and joy to know that Pediatrica and Dr. Strum will nurture the same values of care, compassion and commitment that have always been at the center of this practice," Capote says in the statement.

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Strum, who graduated from the University of Miami-Miller School of Medicine in 1999, has more than 20 years of pediatric care experience.

“From the moment Dr. Strum arrived at the practice, patients and staff were put at ease,” Pediatrica CEO Roberto Palenzuela says in the statement. “It was clear that the legacy of exemplary care Dr. Capote had worked so hard to build in the community would continue with Dr. Strum.”

Pediatrica Health Group has 16 locations in Florida and two in Texas. Pediatrica of Lakewood Ranch is at 6995 Professional Parkway E. Other practices in the area that have been acquired by the health group include Pediatrica of Laurel Park in Sarasota, which was previously Meyer Pediatrics, and Pediatrica of South Bradenton, formerly known as Scarano & Taylor Pediatrics.