HCA Florida finalizes purchase of Lehigh hospital; another freestanding ER coming

HCA Florida Healthcare has finalized the purchase of the 53-bed Lehigh Regional Medical Center and announced plans to build a freestanding emergency room on Alico Road.

The hospital at 1500 Lee Blvd. was acquired from California-based Prime Healthcare and renamed HCA Florida Lehigh Hospital. The hospital has 300 employees who have transitioned to HCA.

The for-profit HCA is investing $134.5 million in Lee County, which includes the hospital acquisition, construction of a new freestanding emergency room on Alico and two existing freestanding emergency rooms.

The two freestanding ERs in operation are in Cape Coral at 322 SW Pine Island Road and Fort Myers at 8919 College Pointe Court.

HCA also owns multiple ambulatory surgery centers and other services in the community.

The new freestanding ER is planned for a 2026 opening on Alico near Three Oaks Parkway.

“This hospital and associated physician practices are a wonderful complimentary addition to our existing 17 hospitals within our division along Florida’s West Coast and will serve as a catalyst for growth as we further expand our services and programs in Lee County,” Jyric Sims, president of HCA Healthcare West Florida Division, said in a news release.

HCA has incrementally been building its presence again in the Lee market with the freestanding ER’s in operation and with plans to build a 100-bed hospital at 3851 Colonial Blvd. HCA officials have not disclosed details of the new hospital.

In 2006, HCA sold two hospitals in Fort Myers to Lee Health for $535 million. They were Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center that no longer exists and Gulf Coast Hospital which Lee Health renamed Gulf Coast Medical Center at 13681 Doctors Way off Daniels Parkway.

More recently, Lee Health spent a year exploring the pros and cons of converting from a public hospital system to a private nonprofit system to compete better in a rapidly changing health care market. The conversion was done last fall.

Lee Health has four acute care hospitals with a combined 1,865-bed system and a $3 billion annual operating budget; It had been one of the largest public hospital systems in the U.S. before the conversion.

Lee Health is making its own moves: its leadership broke ground in late January for a 168-bed hospital at 4453 Challenger Blvd. with a price tag of $434 million which includes a musculoskeletal institute connected to the hospital.

The aging Lee Memorial Hospital at 2776 Cleveland Ave. near downtown Fort Myers will be closed around the time the new hospital opens.

HCA Florida has more than 650 sites in Florida that includes hospitals, physician practices and freestanding emergency rooms.

Leadership at HCA Florida Lehigh are Paige Laughlin as chief executive officer and Cheryl McIntire, chief financial officer. Dr. Brian Hummel is chief medical officer and Harry Walk is chief nursing officer.