Tag Archive for: nch healthcare system

Hospital For Special Surgery, NCH Healthcare System Plan Orthopedic Facility In Southwest Florida

Patty & Jay Baker Pavilion at NCH North Naples Hospital 770x320

New York-based orthopedic care system Hospital for Special Surgery and Naples, Florida-based nonprofit NCH Healthcare System broke ground on the Patty & Jay Baker Pavilion at NCH North Naples Hospital in Naples.

The 80,000-square-foot center will include outpatient and inpatient orthopedic services, including ambulatory surgery.

The new facility is slated to open in early 2025.

 

Source:  Healthcare Design Magazine

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Golisano Children’s Hospital Sees Growth At Its Naples Location

Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida is expanding services in Naples and has forged a transfer agreement with the NCH Healthcare System.

The agreement is for seriously ill children who are in the care of an NCH hospital yet need more specialized services available at the children’s hospital located in south Fort Myers.

The goal is to make patient transfers run smoother and represents a fresh start between the two hospitals, said Armando Llechu, chief administrative officer of the 128-bed Golisano hospital.

“That was a really good first step to building a relationship,” Llechu said.

NCH historically has had a transfer agreement to send sick children when necessary to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, formerly Miami Children’s Hospital.

NCH’s pediatrics services at North Naples hospital, including its pediatrics emergency department, have been expanded and upgraded to keep more children closer to home for care.

Golisano children’s hospital achieved a new milestone in 2017 with the completion of its new seven-story, $200-million hospital adjacent to HealthPark Medical Center to better serve the five-county area of Southwest Florida. Previously, the children’s hospital was inside HealthPark.

Llechu said he and Dr. Emad Salman, regional medical officer at Golisano, met with NCH’s interim CEO Phil Dutcher, and the agreement was signed July 1.

“(We) said this is an opportunity to start a new chapter in the care of children in the region,” Llechu said.

Dutcher served as interim CEO following the resignation in January of Dr. Allen Weiss until the Sept. 3 start of Paul Hiltz as the new president and CEO.

Dutcher said he reached out to many people and organizations, including Golisano, when he was interim CEO.

“I thought (the transfer agreement) was a good first step and the right thing to do,” Dutcher said, who is back as NCH chief operations officer.

Salman said it is not unusual for general acute-care hospitals to have transfer agreements with more than one children’s hospital. That’s because not all provide a complete line up of services. For instance, Golisano does not have the demand yet to add pediatric heart transplant services.

Besides the transfer agreement with NCH, Golisano has been working on projects at its Golisano’s Children’s Health Center in Naples at Pine Ridge and Livingston roads.

Golisano’s contract for Nicklaus Children’s to provide three physicians for the urgent care center at the Naples complex has ended. Four physicians with Golisano are now rotating through the urgent care center that is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Llechu, who came to Golisano in 2017 after serving as vice president of clinical operations at Nicklaus Children’s, said there was no controversy with ending the arrangement.

“They realize having a remote location created some logistical challenges as well,” he said.

When respiratory infections are common among children, the urgent care center can see 20 to 30 patients a day, Salman said.

“In summer, it’s 10 to 15 a day,” he said. “Two years ago when we had really bad flu season, we saw 40 to 50 patients a day.”

In terms of how many Collier children who need to be hospitalized through the Naples urgent care center and Golisano physician practice in the same building, it’s about two a month, Salman said.

“We try very hard not to bring them up here unless absolutely necessary,” Llechu said.

The pediatric specialists who see children in the office practice are preparing for expansions, he said.

That includes build out of a 4,000-square-foot cancer center, the addition of two gastroenterologists for rotations, and the hiring of a second autism navigator to keep pace with increased diagnosis of autism, he said.

“We are seeing a lot more autism in the entire region,” Llechu said.

The cancer center program is in design phase now; all together Golisano is investing about $1 million in the Naples complex, he said.

 

Source: Naples News

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Hospitals File Petitions To Keep Competitors Out Of Southwest Florida Market

Hospital competitors in Southwest Florida have filed petitions to oppose three new hospitals that state regulators approved June 1.

The challenges were filed to contest the state Agency for Health Care Administration’s decisions on license applications from Lee Health, HCA Healthcare, and Braden Clinic. The petitions seek formal hearings.

For residents of Estero and Ave Maria, where the hospitals would be built, the legal wrangling means delays and the potential of project approvals getting overturned or dropped.

Once an administrative judge has been assigned, the hearings must begin within six months and a continuation is only allowed when the judge finds extraordinary circumstances, according to state law. In general, hearings are held in Tallahassee. It is likely the petitions involving the Lee County projects will be consolidated.

The publicly operated Lee Health was approved for an 82-bed hospital at its Coconut Point outpatient campus in Estero. HCA’s 80-bed hospital was approved for a site near Corkscrew Road and U.S. 41. Ten of the HCA beds would be for inpatient psychiatric care. Lee Health and HCA are fighting each other’s projects.

The state’s approval of both projects in the same region contrasts with its 2013 denial of Lee Health’s bid for an 80-bed hospital at Coconut Point.

The NCH Healthcare System and Physicians Regional Healthcare System, both in Collier County, are opposing the two Lee County projects.

NCH also is fighting the state’s approval of a 25-bed hospital by Braden Clinic in Ave Maria.

The challenges reiterate objections the competitors filed earlier this spring after the three applications were submitted. The objections say more beds will harm the existing hospitals, will result in higher health care costs, and will dilute the quality of care provided by health professionals.

The petitions also raise questions about whether the state properly balanced statutory criteria in evaluating the applications. The state may face greater scrutiny because it approved all three applications for Southwest Florida. The agency also green-lighted hospital projects in Marion, Volusia and Orange counties.

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare sold two hospitals in Fort Myers in 2006 to Lee Health. One was closed and the other, Gulf Coast Hospital, was expanded and renamed Gulf Coast Medical Center. In its argument against HCA aiming to re-enter the market, Lee Health says HCA “abandoned” the community in 2006.

Physicians Regional similarly said the monopoly that Lee Health has today is due in large part because HCA left the county in 2006. Physicians Regional said HCA should not be allowed to build a hospital and potentially divest again to the benefit of Lee Health.

In its objection to the Lee Health project, HCA said the abandonment argument is irrelevant and the issue is whether Lee Health should be permitted to expand its market dominance.

“The clear answer to this question is that Lee County residents should have the same degree of choice of inpatient providers as is available in other Florida counties and that enhanced competition will be beneficial to residents, the medical community, and payors of health care services,” HCA said.

Lee Health controls 95 percent of hospital beds in the county and handled 85 percent of all admissions, HCA said.

Lee Health spokeswoman Mary Briggs said the system’s project is the best choice for Estero.

“Our hospital will be built adjacent to Lee Health — Coconut Point, which opens later this year,” she said.  “An acute care bed tower will naturally complement the emergency room, surgery center and other comprehensive outpatient services to be offered at that location.”

In its opposition to the planned 25-bed Braden hospital, NCH said the rural hospital proposed off Arthrex Commerce Drive near Oil Well Road would face numerous challenges.

“The area remains a medically underserved area, lacking necessary support services as well as sufficient health care professionals,” NCH said. “That lack of support raises issues as to 24-hour staffing and adequate emergency coverage for a hospital, and the sustainability of a rural hospital with 25 beds.”

Braden Clinic opened outpatient services for Ave Maria in 2015. The hospital application included letters of support from 650 residents, community leaders and businesses.

NCH took issue with the hospital planning to have an emergency room, but the hospital would not offer inpatient surgery.

“The lack of inpatient surgery, when explicit statements occur as to full emergency care, overreaches as to the capability of the proposed hospital,” NCH said.

Financial documents included in Braden’s application said investors would be tapped to help build the $34.5 million hospital, or $1.4 million per bed. Braden clinic showed net revenues of $525,000, and a net loss of $86,000 at the end of 2017. NCH raised questions about whether investors would have a controlling role in the hospital.

Braden officials issued a statement that its project has widespread support and that a new hospital is overdue in the community. Supporters include Collier County’s Emergency Medical Services, the Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida, and the Collier County Rural Health Network, Braden said.

“Everyone knows that eastern Collier County is in dire need of a hospital that actually serves our patient base,” the statement reads. “The state healthcare administrative body has ruled in favor of our application. The community is supportive at every level.”

Braden officials said only NCH is challenging the new hospital based on its own financial interests.

“Shame on the powerful executives, lawyers, and governing bodies of NCH for suing the state of Florida in a sad attempt to protect their market share,” the statement reads.

Source: Naples Daily News

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Florida Approves Three New Hospitals For Collier And Lee Counties

Florida regulators have approved plans for three new hospitals in Lee and Collier counties, a decision that reverses the state’s view four years ago that no new health centers were needed in the region.
This means that Lee Health may proceed with plans to build an 82-bed hospital on a medical campus it is already building in Estero.
But it also means that HCA Healthcare, which left Southwest Florida more than a decade ago, may open its own 80-bed hospital and inpatient psychiatric facility near Corkscrew Road and U.S. 41 in that same community. The hospital also would become Lee County’s third receiving facility for people undergoing involuntary mental health evaluations under the state’s Baker Act.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s ruling on Friday said that both hospitals are needed to meet the needs of a rapidly growing county and to diversify its health care offerings:

“The Agency finds that approval of both applicants, collectively, will increase accessibility and availability of inpatient services while enhancing health care and fostering competition to promote quality and cost effectiveness to residents of the subdistrict.”

A third approved plan from Braden Clinic in Ave Maria calls for the construction of a 25-bed health center in that community.
NCH Healthcare System, which operates the largest hospitals in Collier County and competes with Lee Health for patients in south Lee County, had opposed all three bids.
None of the hospital systems had commented on the decision as of Friday morning.

The Players

The 102-year-old Lee Health, formerly known as Lee Memorial Health System, is a public hospital system governed by an elected 10-person governing board. It operates four acute-care hospitals in Lee County and a variety of specialty clinics and health centers, including The Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.
Lee Health also operates the only trauma center between Sarasota and Miami.
It frequently faces criticism for being a “monopoly” because it operates roughly 95 percent of the adult acute-care hospital beds in Lee County. For now, its only competitor is the 88-bed Lehigh Regional Medical Center in Lehigh Acres.
Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is the nation’s largest hospital operator with 179 hospitals, 120 freestanding surgery centers and a number of medical facilities in 20 states and the United Kingdom.
Its Florida holdings include Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlotte, Englewood Community Hospital and Doctors Hospital of Sarasota.
Gov. Rick Scott led what was then known as Columbia/HCA between 1987 and 1997. He left amid a federal investigation into its Medicare billing practices, which ultimately forced the company to pay $1.7 billion in penalties and fines between 2000 and 2002.
At the time, it was the largest health care fraud in the nation’s history, according to Politifact.
HCA formerly operated the now-demolished Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and what was once known as Gulf Coast Hospital. Lee Health acquired both in 2006 in a $535 million deal.
Braden Clinic has been in Ave Maria for several years and provides a number of outpatient medical services, including primary medical care, urgent care and pediatric care. It also offers lab services.
Its hospital would serve Ave Maria, Immokalee and the surrounding rural communities, according to its website. It is expected to offer 24/7 emergency services, a pharmacy, a lab, rehabilitation care, imaging, an infusion center and cardiorespiratory.
Source: Naples Daily News
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