(Fort Myers, Fla. – Jan. 29, 2015) --- Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida (GCHSWF) and Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH) announced today a collaboration to build an urgent care and ambulatory care center in Collier County. It will include the area’s first and only urgent care center dedicated solely to pediatrics.
The 17,000 square foot facility will bring coordinated, comprehensive services to the pediatric community in Collier County.
Golisano Children’s Hospital will relocate certain specialty services currently available at its Pediatric Specialty Clinic on Immokalee Road to the new facility when it opens. These specialties include consultations with pediatric hematologists, oncologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, neurologists, gastroenterologists, endocrinologists and surgeons. Other services moving into the new center include the children’s rehabilitation center, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech pathology/audiology services. Plans to add more specialty services will be announced later.
Miami Children’s Hospital board-certified pediatricians will staff the urgent care facility and will treat colds, coughs, and sore throats; stomach aches, strains and sprains; cuts that need stitches, dog or other animal bites, asthma, earaches and ear infections, and other minor, but urgent, ailments to help parents with sick or injured children avoid a trip to the emergency room. The urgent care clinic will also offer x-ray services specifically for children – the only one of its kind in Southwest Florida.
Firm hours are not yet established, but the Urgent Care Center will likely be open from noon to midnight to provide an alternative to the emergency room after school and into the evening when accidents or sudden illness is most likely to occur.
“We are working in collaboration with established Collier County Pediatrician’s to provide care to their patients when they are not available,” says Kathy Bridge-Liles, chief administrative officer of the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. “Most low-acuity visits to the Emergency Department happen when the pediatrician’s office is closed. Our center will be able to accommodate children and families who need urgent care but are not able to get immediately into the pediatricians office, or who have not yet established a relationship with a pediatrician.”
Pediatric neurosurgeons from Miami Children’s Hospital who currently provide consultations at the Pediatric Specialty Clinic on Immokalee Road will continue to provide those services at the new center when it opens. Last year, GCHSWF and MCH announced the two entities had formed a clinical affiliation to optimize care for severely sick or injured children in Southwest Florida and to help keep children and their families as close to home as possible while offering excellent care.
“Miami Children’s Hospital shares Golisano Children’s Hospital’s commitment to ensuring the best possible care in the most appropriate setting for children,” said Armando Llechu, Vice President of Clinical Operations at Miami Children’s Hospital. “We are committed to enhancing convenience for children and families and look forward to offering pediatric urgent care and other treatment options for children in Collier County as part of this collaboration.”
“We are excited to expand our relationship with Miami Children’s Hospital as we continue to develop a comprehensive network of care for our patients,” says Bridge-Liles. “Our pediatric specialty clinic has been very well accepted by the Collier County community and we look forward to expanding on that success with this new facility.”
The Golisano Pediatric Specialty Clinic opened in 2011 and expanded to double its size the following year. Between its physician specialists, labs and rehab services, the clinic averages 1,000 visits a month.
There is growing demand for pediatric services in Collier County. The pediatric population is expected to grow 6.2% over the next five years and childbearing female population is projected to increase 4.3%.
The center will be located 3375 Pine Ridge Road, on the NE intersection of Pine Ridge and Livingston roads. Construction on the center is scheduled to begin this spring with completion anticipated for December 2015.
About Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida
Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida is part of Lee Memorial Health System in Lee County, Florida. It is the only acute care children’s hospital between Tampa and Miami. The children’s hospital opened in 1994 within HealthPark Medical Center. The name was changed to Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida in 2012 when Tom Golisano stepped forward with a $20 million matching grant to support construction of a new children’s hospital in Lee County. Lee Memorial Health System Foundation, the primary fund raising entity for Golisano Children's Hospital, is currently engaged in a major capital campaign to enhance pediatric hospital care in Southwest Florida by building a new 292,000 square foot, 128-bed children's hospital on the campus of HealthPark Medical Center. For more info, visit ChildrensHospitalGoal.org
About Miami Children’s Hospital
Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Miami Children's Hospital® is South Florida’s only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with more than 650 attending physicians and over 130 pediatric sub-specialists. The 289-bed hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with several specialty programs ranked among the best in the nation in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013-14 by U.S. News & World Report. The hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession’s most prestigious institutional honor.
About Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Where Children Matter Most (2024)
Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is South
Florida’s only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with approximately
850 attending physicians, including more than 500 pediatric subspecialists. The 307-bed
hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with many specialty programs
routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The
hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern
United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing
Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession’s most prestigious institutional
honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org.