NCH, Nicklaus Children’s announce major expansion of care for women and children in Collier County

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. —

Naples Comprehensive Health and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital announced plans Tuesday for a major expansion of care for women and children in Collier County.

The project, made possible by a significant donation from the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation, includes the Van Domelen Institute for Women and Children and the planned Van Domelen Pavilion for Women and Children.

Hospital leaders say the goal is to keep more families close to home when they need specialized care.

“This is going to transform care for women and children here in Southwest Florida,” said Paul Hiltz, president and CEO of NCH.

The Van Domelen Institute for Women and Children launches immediately and serves as a new care model designed to coordinate women’s and children’s services across the community, both inside and outside the hospital.

The Van Domelen Pavilion for Women and Children will be a four-story, 156,000-square-foot tower built on the NCH North Hospital campus. Once completed, it will include labor and delivery suites, operating rooms, advanced maternal and fetal women’s health services, pediatric subspecialty care, and a Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit.

Hiltz said partnering with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital will allow NCH to elevate the level of care available locally and reduce the need to transfer patients out of the area.

Collier County is home to more than 65,000 children, and hospital leaders say growth in the population has increased demand for care. The OB/GYN chief medical officer at NCH said the community could use up to 40 NICU beds, four times the number currently available at the NCH Birth Place.

“Where a lot of the country is saying no to women, to children, we have 250 labor deliveries closing. We have clinics throughout the country closing. Both contraceptive care, cancer care for women,” says Dr. Betsy Brother, OB/GYN chief medical officer at NCH. “Today was a yes for Collier County. It's a yes for Southwest Florida. That we are opening up a comprehensive care center for not only our children, our families, but also women of all ages.”

Because of limited space and specialty care, families are often sent outside of Collier County, sometimes beyond Fort Myers, Tampa or even Gainesville.

Matthew Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, said the collaboration will help recruit pediatric specialists and keep more care local. “So, think about urology, you know, endocrinology, cardiology, where kids have to travel. Having those physicians right here locally, that's, that's the goal,” said Love.

The Van Domelen Pavilion represents an investment of more than $350 million. Construction is expected to begin once 80% of the funding is raised through philanthropy, with an estimated build time of 24 to 30 months.

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