Our History

In 1978, a small group of people started meeting in a small room in the white building of Morton Plant Hospital. All the attendees had one thing in common, they all had an Ostomy and wanted to create a place where they could find support, understanding and share stories. This was the beginning of what was to become the Clearwater Ostomy Support Group.

One of the attendees, Frank Covall, had been active in a support group up North and knew what to do to start such a group in Clearwater that would be affiliated with the national association. At that time it was called, the United Ostomy Association or the UOA. Eventually, Frank became the groups very first president.

In the late 70's and early 80's, there weren't many companies manufacturing Ostomy products and providing assistance on how to use them. That's when ET Nurses (Enterstomal Therapists) started attending the meetings. They became a valuable resource for the group as many Ostomates wouldn't discuss their surgeries or problems with some family members and friends. The support group essentially became a haven for Ostomates as they could get assistance and needed support from fellow Ostomates and the ET Nurses.

Around 1984, when area hospitals started developing Ostomy departments, the group moved their meetings to a building on Pinellas Street that housed the Morton Plant Physical Therapy department. When the membership reached 120 people, the group moved again to a building across from Morton Plant Hospital on Druid Road that used to be Siple's Garden Seat Restaurant. We were now the largest group in the state of Florida, if not the nation. This is also when the ET Nurses started conducting training classes for members to become a Visitor. Graduates or Visitors, were now qualified to visit

those in the hospital facing Ostomy surgery and offer them suppport and information.

In the mid 1990's, the building on Druid Road was demolished to make room for hospital expansion. That is when the group started to meet in their current location, the Heart and Vascular Center at Morton Plant Hospital.

In October of 2005, the United Ostomy Association (UOA) became the United Ostomy Associations of America (UOAA). And the current membership of the Clearwater Ostomy Support Group is 140 people and growing.