Lee Health & NCH Reach Agreement on Bonita Community Health Center

Lee Health to purchase NCH ownership of facility

(Fort Myers and Naples, Fla. – Nov. 4, 2019) --- After almost two decades of co-ownership of Bonita Community Health Center, Lee Health and NCH Healthcare System have reached an agreement whereby Lee Health will become the sole owner of the facility.

Lee Health’s publicly-elected Board of Directors approved the purchase at its board meeting on October 31.

BCHC is a 100,000-square-foot facility with physician offices, urgent care center, diagnostics and imaging, surgery center and physical therapy services. It opened in December of 2000 as a joint operation of NCH and Lee Health with 50/50 ownership. At the time, South Lee County was beginning to grow rapidly but was medically underserved.

“Changing to a single owner will place Bonita Community Health Center in a stronger position to better serve South Lee County,” said Larry Antonucci, M.D., MBA, President & CEO of Lee Health. “This acquisition creates the opportunity for Lee Health to plan services between BCHC and Lee Health Coconut Point as sister facilities, clinically and operationally coordinated to meet the needs of this growing community.”

While NCH will no longer have an ownership interest in BCHC, it will continue to serve the community through other nearby facilities, including NCH Healthcare Bonita, a 24 hour emergency center with imaging and physician practices on U.S. 41, as well as a comprehensive outpatient medical facility further south on U.S. 41 at Bonita Beach Road.

“At NCH, we are driven by a patient-first mindset and a strong sense of community,” said Paul Hiltz, CEO & President of NCH Healthcare System. “We mark this as a new era of collaboration between our two health systems, and I look forward to finding additional ways to collaborate with Lee Health and other health care providers for the good of our patients.”

Lee Health has no immediate operational changes planned at the time of acquisition. Patients will continue to see the same familiar physicians and providers and staffing changes are not anticipated.

Bonita Community Health Center is located at 3501 Health Center Blvd. in Bonita Springs, just south of the intersection of U.S. 41 and Coconut Road.

About Lee Health
Since the opening of the first hospital in 1916, Lee Health has been a health care leader in Southwest Florida, constantly evolving to meet the needs of the community. A non-profit, integrated health care services organization, Lee Health is committed to the well-being of every individual served, focused on healthy living and maintaining good health. Staffed by caring people, inspiring health, services are conveniently located throughout the community in four acute care hospitals, two specialty hospitals, outpatient centers, walk-in medical centers, primary care and specialty physician practices and other services across the continuum of care. Formerly known as Lee Memorial Health System, the organization began its second century of service with a new name in 2016. Learn more at www.LeeHealth.org.

About NCH Healthcare System
The NCH Healthcare System is a not-for-profit, multi-facility healthcare system located in Naples, Florida, United States. The System is more than just two hospitals (referred to as the NCH Downtown Naples Hospital, and NCH North Naples Hospital) with a total of 713 beds. The NCH Healthcare System is an alliance of 775 physicians and medical facilities in dozens of locations throughout Collier County and southwest Florida. The services offered by the NCH Healthcare System are extensive. 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 40,000 admissions, 123,000 emergency room visits, 3,500 births, 440 open heart surgeries, 12,100 surgical procedures, and 4,800 employee colleagues. NCH is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. NCH's mission is to help everyone live a longer, happier, healthier life. NCH is sponsoring the Blue Zones Project for Southwest Florida. For more information, visit www.NCHmd.org.