Lured by its proximity to race tracks, a sports car racing team has opened up shop in Martin County.

Extreme Speed Motorsports, owned by veteran race car driver Scott Sharp, will run his team out of a building on Jack James Drive in Stuart.

The team will race a Ferrari 430 GTC in the American Le Mans series, which is a sports car racing series in the United States and Canada in which drivers participate in endurance and sprint races that last from 100 minutes to 12 hours. (more…)

Martin Memorial Health Systems opened a fitness center last week at the Port St. Lucie Community Center, replacing another in that location run by its rival, HCA Inc.

The center, which is located at 2195 S.E. Airoso Blvd, opened Thursday.

HCA, a national corporation with two hospitals in St. Lucie County, ran a fitness center in the city-owned building for years, but told city officials in November that it would be closed because of budget cuts. They reversed course after Martin Memorial made a pitch to move into the site.

The city council voted to accept Martin Memorial’s proposal. (more…)

At Stuart’s Volunteers in Medicine Clinic, doctors have seen first-hand the effects of a bad economy.

More patients. More repeat visits. The top two maladies treated at the nonprofit clinic are depression/anxiety and high-blood pressure. Diabetes is third.

“This year, we’ve just seen a lot more patients because of the economy,” said Tanya Spain, the clinic’s spokeswoman. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — St. Lucie Medical Center has received the highest designation for excellence in nursing from The American Nurses Credentialing Center.

The HCA Inc.-owned hospital is the first on the Treasure Coast to get the prestigious Magnet Designation and the 23rd in the state.

The ANCC, of Silver Spring, Md., gives the designation to health care organizations that demonstrate the highest quality in nursing practices and adherence to national standards. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The battle for hospital supremacy on the Treasure Coast continues.

HCA Inc., which owns two hospitals in St. Lucie County, filed an appeal this week with the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee to stop Martin Memorial Health Systems from building a new hospital in Port St. Lucie’s Tradition community.

HCA exhausted its state appeals last month. (more…)

Detroit may have been rocked this year by the financial woes of American automakers, but evidence of the crisis can be found in almost every American city. In Fort Pierce, it’s seen in the empty lots where car dealerships once stood on U.S. 1.

Many franchise owners, even successful ones, were forced to close in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings for Chrsyler and General Motors earlier this year.

Now, with federal legislation passed this month, owners like Bill Wallace of Wallace Chrysler Jeep in Fort Pierce have recourse. (more…)

Martin Memorial Health Systems, which owns two hospitals in Martin County, has been recertified as a primary stroke center.

The non-profit health organization first received its certification two years ago from The Joint Commission, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that ensures hospitals meet national standards and performance measures.

The certification applies to both hospitals and an emergency clinic in St. Lucie West.

The commission’s certification program was developed with the help of the American Stroke Association.

Sol, Inc., a Palm City-based manufacturer of outdoor solar lighting, has appointed a new business development manager for its international operations in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Andy Chaguaceda, who will be based in Miami, has 30 years of electrical sales experience and has worked in Central America, the Caribbean and South Florida.

Sol, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets commercial and industrial-grade solar powered and energy efficient lighting systems. They have installed more than 38,000 systems worldwide.

PORT ST. LUCIE - And it’s a wrap.

The City Council Monday night unanimously gave final approval to a 20-year lease agreement with Wyndcrest DD Florida Inc. that requires the city to provide the company with 15 acres of land and a 150,000 square-foot movie animation and video game production studio within the Tradition development.

The move, finalizing a $51.8 million deal between the city and Wyndcrest, drew applause from local business and community leaders who urged the council to support the project because it would create much needed, high-paying jobs in the community. Nobody at the meeting spoke out against the project. (more…)

Liberator Medical Holdings, Inc., of Stuart, added two well-known members to its board of directors.

They are: Joseph Farish, a West Palm Beach lawyer and former judge, and Robert Cuillo, a former West Palm Beach car dealer and restaurateur.

Farish was involved in several high-profile cases, including the 1982 divorce of Roxanne Pulitzer. Cuillo owned Palm Beach Lincoln Mercury in West Palm Beach and currently owns or co-owns two restaurants in Palm Beach County.

Liberator Medical Supply Inc., a subsidiary of Liberator Medical Holdings, sells more than 5,000 products to Medicare-eligible patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.