NCH Center for Philanthropy

Jane Cox RN PhD

by Jane Cox

For over fifty years, charitable individuals in the community have enabled the NCH Healthcare System to deliver compassionate nursing care and world-class medicine. Community charitable generosity results in state-of-the art facilities utilizing cutting-edge technologies locally. The NCH Center for Philanthropy is the fundraising arm of the NCH Healthcare System.

Formerly called The Foundation, it has recently been renamed to reflect the mission of caring. The NCH Center for Philanthropy supports a medical institution with a proven track record of clinical excellence. Over $21 million has been expended on capital improvements. The NCH Baker Hospital operating rooms, ICU, energy saving efforts, NCH Southeast, and plans for NCH Bonita are areas of strategic investment. The financial stability of the NCH Healthcare System is remarkable and monies are invested and reinvested into the system. Fitch, one of the two bond rating agencies, express credit ratings in relative rank order.

The ratings are ordinal measures of credit risk and are not predictive of specific frequency of loss. They have upgraded the NCH Healthcare System to AA and noted that, “Even in the midst of the hurricane, two NCH facilities did not have to close their doors and had more than 300 patients in beds as the eye of the storm passed through.” More can be found at nchmd6- px.healthservices.help/Fitch. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) summarizes up to 57 quality measures on their Hospital Compare tool reflecting common conditions that hospitals treat, such as heart attacks or pneumonia.

Hospitals may perform more complex services or procedures not reflected in the measures on Hospital Compare. The overall rating shows how well each hospital performed, on average, compared to other hospitals in the U.S.
The overall rating ranges from one to five stars. The more stars, the better a hospital performed on the available quality measures. The most common overall rating is 3 stars. The NCH Baker Downtown Hospital and the NCH North Naples Hospital were the only hospitals in SW Florida awarded a top score of 5 stars.

Southwest Florida, for the third consecutive year, has been named the healthiest and happiest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the nation, with the longest life expectancy that has lengthened for the second year. Blue Zones Project can change the dynamics of well-being in Southwest Florida in favor of health, happiness, and longevity. The downtown NCH Baker Hospital Emergency Room is in need of renovation and plans to expand from 34 to 50 beds with a larger treatment room.

The waiting rooms will be redesigned to be more comfortable and feature charging stations, office space
and snack options. Patient privacy will be improved by using individual glass treatment rooms. Additional space for caregivers to chart will implement a lean design model. A decontamination room will be added. Troy Munn, Associate Chief Development Officer at the NCH Center for Philanthropy, has been instrumental in guiding
philanthropic efforts. The NCH Center for Philanthropy looks forward to a particularly significant NCH Hospital Ball, which will take place Saturday, November 10, 2018 at The Ritz-Carlton Beach Hotel, Naples.

Troy said, “This year’s event, under the leadership of chairs Diane and Dan McCaw, will mark the 60th year that our community has charitably invested in the health and wellness of Naples and Southwest Florida through the NCH Hospital Ball. This year’s beneficiary is the nationally ranked and recognized NCH Cardiac Care program. Philanthropy, including that which NCH Community Home Care generously provides, plays an increasing role in our elevating a quality cardiac program to new levels, continuing to offer the best physicians and cutting edge technology and procedures to our community.” To learn more, please contact Monica Biondo at 239.624.2019.