NCH announces $350M women's and children's care expansion in Naples

Families in Collier County will no longer have to travel for advanced pediatric and maternal healthcare thanks to a $350 million expansion to Naples Comprehensive Health North Hospital. 

NCH, Collier County’s largest health care system, announced plans Jan. 20 to significantly expand specialized services for women’s and children’s care with a new, four-story complex to be built on the NCH North Hospital campus in Naples through a collaboration with Miami’s Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. 

The two health care systems have partnered for years to provide pediatric services at NCH North, the hospital says, and currently operates the only labor, delivery and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Collier County. 

The project is made possible in part by a “visionary gift” from the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation, the hospital says. Officials declined to disclose the exact amount of the donation, saying the foundation requested it remain private. 

The organization’s donation will expand the hospital’s program in two parts: renaming the existing program for women and children The Van Domelen Institute for Women and Children, and naming the planned tower that will become the program’s hub The Van Domelen Pavilion for Women and Children. 

The four-story, 156,000-square-foot pavilion will be built above existing emergency departments at NCH North and feature modern labor and delivery suites, advanced operating rooms, enhanced maternal-fetal medicine, advanced women’s health services and a level three NICU for very premature or critically ill newborns, the release says. 

The building will also include a new parking garage and rooftop helipad for rapid transport. 

According to the release, NCH and Nicklaus Children’s are partnering to raise 80% of the more than $350 million needed to build the center through philanthropy before breaking ground. 

“The Pavilion and Institute will serve as a bridge, connecting exceptional hospital care with trusted community partners to create a seamless, integrated model of support,” says Julia Van Domelen in the release. “When families leave the hospital, they should be set up for success. Through this model of wraparound services, we believe we can help ensure long-term health and well being for generations to come.”

According to the NCH, Collier County is home to more than 65,000 children — a population that’s projected to grow another 4% in five years. NCH’s North Hospital, built in 1956, delivers nearly 3,700 babies each year and operates the only pediatric emergency department in the county. 

With this new expansion, women and children will benefit from shorter wait times, larger facilities and better coordinated care between hospital teams, specialists and community providers, the release says. 

“Together with NCH, we are excited to bring nationally recognized pediatric expertise closer to home by working with them to create an integrated, family-centered model of care that will serve generations and ensure families receive the highest level of care when and where they need it.” Matthew Love, President and CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Health System, says in the release. 

Under the agreement, NCH will remain an independent, nonprofit health system with Nicklaus Children’s serving as a clinical affiliate in pediatric care, the release says.