Cape Coral Hospital marks 10 years with Lee Memorial

It has been one decade since the not-for-profit Lee Memorial Health System purchased Cape Coral Hospital.

Exactly 10 years ago Tuesday, Lee Memorial signed on the dotted line to buy the hospital after employees and volunteers at Cape Coral signed a petition, demanding the previous board of directors sell to Lee Memorial.

The negotiated price: $140 million.

Of the 1,400 employees at Cape Coral Hospital, some are original employees, said Linda Brown, chairwoman of the Lee Memorial board of directors. The Cape Coral Hospital always has been a strong fixture in the community, she said.

But there have been many changes.

Nearly 200 beds have been added to the facility, and the surgery suites have been upgraded, Karen Krieger, spokeswoman for Lee Memorial, said in an e-mail.

Cape Coral was named the one of the Top 100 hospitals in the nation and as an orthopedic benchmark for success in 2000, and the 2005 Business of the Year by the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce, she said.

Lee Memorial has invested more than $200 million in capital improvements and assets into the hospital, according to an e-mail sent by Lee Memorial CEO Jim Nathan to employees on Tuesday.

That is only the beginning, Brown said.

“Cape Coral is a driving, growing community and, as a result, needs its own access to health care in its own city,” Brown said.

The emergency room at the hospital is being enlarged to include 16 additional treatment rooms, Krieger’s e-mail said. The emergency department sees an average of 160 to 170 patients each day, she said.

“That’s our front door for health care because that’s the first place people think of when they need health care,” Brown said.

New surgical suites are being added, the pharmacy is being reconstructed and the hospital soon will be home to an 8,820-square-foot, 10-bed neurology unit, Krieger’s e-mail said. The neurology unit will have 10 private acute care rooms, clinical support space and specialized equipment.

The radiology department equipment is also being upgraded, and the outpatient cardiac rehabilitation space is going to be enlarged, the e-mail said.

Lee Memorial also plans to expand the building, Krieger said. The hospital sits on 42 acres, and will be expanded vertically, she said. The master plan calls for 500 beds, but that will be updated because of growth in the area, she said.

Staffing is always an issue for hospitals, so Lee Memorial is focusing on innovative ways in the entire system of finding and keeping staff, she said. With nursing, there is an emphasis on spending more time with patients and their families, she said.

“Cape Coral Hospital provides it all — they help moms have healthy pregnancies and deliveries, they offer the finest in pediatric services, they provide life-saving emergency treatment and surgical procedures to folks of all ages — the care is excellent,” Krieger said.

It is not just the hospital that is important to Lee Memorial, said Brown. The city of Cape Coral is also becoming a hub to the entire system, she said.

All of the system’s finance and accounting offices are in a building on Santa Barbara Boulevard, as well as personnel and human resources, she said. There are also plans to expand outpatient and diagnostic services separate from the hospital, she said.

There was no formal celebration for Lee Memorial’s 10-year anniversary of acquiring the Cape Coral Hospital. The big to-do will be held next year, when the hospital building turns 30, said Nathan’s e-mail.

“We are proud that Cape Coral Hospital is part of the (Lee Memorial) family. We look back on that day in 1996 with gratitude,” he said.