NCH makes new commitment to East Naples; announces 23K sq. ft. facility

Healthcare consumers – or in other words, everybody – will soon have another option for where to go for treatment in the East Naples area.

The NCH Healthcare System announced on May 11 they are building a two-story, multi-purpose outpatient medical center near the corner of Collier Boulevard and Grand Lely Drive. Work is already well underway for the 23,000 sq. ft. facility, which is expected to open for patients in January 2018, said Zach Bostock, chief administrator for NCH Physician Group. The current NCH facility 1.4 miles north on Collier Boulevard, across from the Physicians Regional hospital, will close.

“That lease is up at the end of the year,” said Bostock. “All services currently there will move to the new location. We were looking to see if there is a better opportunity for us to serve” those living or working along the rapidly growing corridor.

“The innovative services being developed for NCH Healthcare Southeast (the name for the new facility) are in response to the growing need for additional quality outpatient services in this area. We’re adding physicians and providers to keep up with growth.”

With 11,500 square feet on each floor, a variety of medical services will be offered within the center. The building will include a 3,000 sq. ft. Immediate Care Center (urgent care), and 5,500 sq. ft. of outpatient imaging services including ultrasound, X-Ray, CT, MRI, mammography, and DEXA.  Additional space of 7,500 sq. ft. is dedicated to primary care physician offices and 4,000 sq. ft. for outpatient rehabilitation services.  A 2,500 sq. ft. sleep lab is also part of the project.

“Two big new services are the sleep lab, and the new full outpatient imaging facility,” said Bostock, saying these would increase convenience for patients in the East Naples and Marco Island areas. The current NCH East Naples office had only x-ray and CT scans, “just for patients being treated at that facility.”

As the center gets up and running, various medical specialists will establish office hours there, said Bostock, with schedules to be determined based on the demand for each.

“We will have primary care, internal medicine and family medicine physicians. We expect to offer pulmonology, cardiology, and likely orthopedics at some time in the future. We will be able to treat children through geriatrics.” All births, he said, will continue to be handled at the NCH North Naples Hospital off Immokalee Road.

Work on the new building was already well underway when the center was announced, allowing the hospital system to meet its ambitious goal of seeing patients in January. NCH will lease, rather than purchase, the land for the facility from Lely Resort developer Stock Development.

“The permitting was already in place through Stock, so the exterior of the building is permitted and ready to go,” said Bostock. The architect for this project is Dyehouse Comeriato, and general contractor is Brooks and Freund. Building and equipping the new facility is expected to cost “a few million dollars,” said NCH director of marketing and public relations Debbie Curry, who did not have a more specific figure. “We are working on planning some events” to mark progress and opening of the new facility, she added, but did not have dates to announce.

Bostock reiterated that the Immediate Care Center or urgent care is a walk-in clinic, and not an emergency room. The new facility will be located at 7717 Collier Boulevard, just north of Grand Lely Drive, where there is a scaled-down version of the iconic Lely Freedom Horses.

The NCH Healthcare System is a not-for-profit, multi-facility healthcare system headquartered in Naples. With two hospitals (referred to as the NCH Downtown Naples Hospital, and NCH North Naples Hospital) and a total of 716 beds, the NCH Healthcare System is an alliance of 775 physicians and medical facilities in dozens of locations throughout Collier County and southwest Florida.

Inpatient services include:  medical, surgical, cardiac, orthopedic, obstetric, pediatric, rehabilitative, psychiatric, oncology, emergency treatment, and diagnostics.  Outpatient services include:  rehabilitation, home care, urgent care, wound healing, and more.  This year the system had 39,000 admissions, 111,000 emergency room visits, 3,600 births, 405 open heart surgeries, 11,800 surgical procedures, and 4,300 employee colleagues. NCH is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. NCH is sponsoring the Blue Zones Project for Southwest Florida.

For more information, visit NCHmd.org.