Major Plans to Expand Care for Women and Children

S

by Paul Hiltz, NCH President & CEO

ince opening our doors in 1956 and welcoming our first baby just two days later, NCH has grown alongside Southwest Florida, evolving with our community and caring for generations of families. Today, as our region has experienced unprecedented growth and increasing complexity in healthcare needs, we are launching a bold initiative because families deserve the very best care close to home.

Naples Comprehensive Health (NCH) and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital recently announced a major expansion of care for women and children in Southwest Florida, made possible by a visionary gift from the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation.

This extraordinary investment will establish the Vân Domelen Institute for Women and Children and support construction of the Van Domelen Pavilion for Women and Children on the NCH North Hospital campus.

Collier County is home to more than 65,000 children, with the pediatric population projected to grow another four percent in the next five years. NCH delivers nearly 3,700 babies each year and operates the only pediatric emergency department in the county. With this expansion, women and children will benefit from shorter wait times, reduced travel, and truly coordinated care between hospital teams, specialists, and community providers, ensuring families can stay close to home when it matters most.

The Van Domelen gift will be used to fund two parts of this major project: The Van Domelen Institute for Women and Children – the new name of the program for women and children already in existence, and The Van Domelen Pavilion for Women and Children – the planned tower which will be the program’s eventual hub.

The Van Domelen Institute for Women and Children is an integrated model of care and programmatic framework that unifies services for women and children across Southwest Florida. The Institute integrates outpatient services, including maternal-fetal medicine, prenatal and postpartum care, pelvic floor therapy, menopause management, and pediatric subspecialty care.

Extending care beyond hospital walls, the Institute will also address prevention, education, and chronic disease management across the lifespan through a coordinated, comprehensive approach.

The Van Domelen Pavilion for Women and Children will be a four-story, 156,000-square-foot center of clinical excellence built above the existing emergency departments at NCH North Hospital. It will feature modern labor and delivery suites, advanced operating rooms, enhanced maternal-fetal medicine, advanced women’s health services, and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to keep high-risk pregnancies and critically ill newborns close to home.

A rooftop helipad will support rapid transport and timely access to lifesaving care.

The Pavilion represents an over $350 million investment in our community, with NCH and Nicklaus Children’s partnering to raise 80 percent through philanthropy to break ground.

The initiative will also strengthen relationships with organizations that NCH has collaborated with, and Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation supports, such as Healthcare Network, David Lawrence Centers, Neighborhood Health Clinic, Baker Senior Center and others that provide wraparound services for children, women, and families.

By connecting hospital care with preventive, behavioral health, and social support resources, this project creates a collaborative, sustainable model powered by philanthropy. Made possible by the extraordinary vision and generosity of the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation, and strengthened through partnership with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and trusted community organizations, this effort reflects what can happen when a community comes together around a shared purpose.

As a nonprofit health system, NCH relies on the generosity and philanthropic support of local residents to expand facilities, implement advanced technologies, and deliver the highest level of care. Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation’s extraordinary gift represents a defining moment in this effort, and community support will be essential to fully realize this vision for women and children in Southwest Florida.

For more information or to learn how to support the Van Domelen Pavilion for Women & Children and learn more about the VanDomelen Institute for Women & Children, visit nchmd.org/WomenandChildren.