New health center opens in Orangetree, ending healthcare desert

ORANGETREE, Fla. (WINK) — Healthcare Network opened its newest community health center in an area of Collier County where families have limited access to medical services.

The Van Domelen Community Health Center is located near the intersection of Immokalee Road and Orange Tree Boulevard in the Orangetree area of Golden Gate Estates. The facility aims to serve families living in eastern Collier County, an area that has seen rapid population growth but remains a healthcare desert.

Yerania Lopez, a resident of Orangetree and registered nurse who serves as senior director of pediatrics and business development, is among those who will benefit from the new center.

"I am a patient myself, my kids, my mom, my brothers," Lopez said.

Lopez explained the challenge residents previously faced in accessing care.

"You have to drive still to get medical care," Lopez said. "So, it was something exciting that you can actually walk. I'm literally, I can walk from my home here, and it has everything."

The center offers family, women, children and senior care. Dental services, counseling and a pharmacy are all available on-site, along with mobile clinics that can provide care at home.

Jamie Ulmer, president and CEO of Healthcare Network, said the facility is designed as a comprehensive healthcare hub.

"We pride ourselves in making a healthcare hub," Ulmer said. "When you go to the doctor, you sometimes have to leave and go do an X-ray somewhere else, or do your lab somewhere else, not here, not in this community. You can bring your entire family into this one facility and receive your X-ray, your lab, your prescriptions filled, and see your provider in one stop, one shop."

The two-story, 20,000-square-foot medical complex was named after Bill and Julia Van Domelen, whose foundation provided a $5 million gift to make the project possible. Julia Van Domelen attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"I'm filled with emotion," Van Domelen said. "Honestly, I'm very excited to see this come to fruition."

The center will serve more than 40,000 families living in the area who need accessible, high-quality care. Ulmer said the facility has already begun making a difference.

"I saw the first baby come into this building that was treated in this new facility...that was the true feeling to know that we're providing health care in this community that people don't have to travel across Collier County," Ulmer said.

He emphasized the impact on residents' daily lives.

"So that no longer will people miss work, no longer will people miss school, they will have a health care facility in their community," Ulmer said.

The center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ulmer said Healthcare Network is working on bringing a similar facility to Lely next.