Estero residents speak against proposed NCH emergency room

The NCH Healthcare System plans to expand into Estero met strong opposition from local residents during its first public presentation Wednesday.

Scores of residents filled the Village Council Chambers, cheering in support of a dozen speakers voicing disapproval of a freestanding emergency room facility near Coconut Point mall.

Many comments pointed to the heated past between NCH and Lee Health.

“I am insulted NCH is trying to undermine the efforts of Lee Health when they’re in the process of building a $140 million facility,” resident Phil Douglas said. “It’s insulting. NCH has done nothing to deserve the support of this community.”

Conflict has surrounded the two medical groups for years, stemming from NCH’s success in halting a hospital proposed by Lee Health.

Instead, Lee Health is building a 163,000-square-foot medical complex south of Coconut Point mall, set to open in fall 2018. A focus on outpatient services and a 24-hour emergency room will try to fill the role of a full hospital.

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NCH’s proposed facility is less than a mile from the Lee Health campus under construction.

The smaller 40,000-square-foot building brought forward by NCH will offer several health care programs, said Phil Dutcher, chief operating officer.

The facility “will include a freestanding, full-service, 24/7 emergency room, a full-service outpatient imaging center, outpatient surgery and endoscopy services, and NCH Physician Group offices staffed with approximately six primary care and specialty physicians,” he said.

The facility is similar to NCH Healthcare Northeast at Immokalee Road and Collier Boulevard in North Naples.

The Estero Design Review Board heard the presentation and public comments. The board is tasked with ensuring new development projects fit with village landscaping and architecture styling.

Board members offered suggestions and concerns to NCH officials to change and adjust the proposed building plans. They can deny plans based on architectural reasons until developers make appropriate changes.

The board cannot deny development plans based on how a business or organization could affect the community.

Resident Don Eslick said an NCH facility could fully halt any future expansions of the Lee Health complex.

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“It’s everything but a hospital being designed to hospital standards, which are very much more costly, in order to be able to bring in a hospital in a second phase,” he said. “If (the NCH facility) goes ahead, it will undermine the ability of that ER … to be able to function effectively.”

Too many medical facilities in one area will cause trouble when applying for a full hospital, Douglas said.

“If this is approved, we will have more and more difficulty getting the hospital we desperately need in south Lee,” he said.

Dutcher did not provide comment after Estero residents spoke.

Nowhere else in Lee County are two ER facilities so close to each other, said Betsy Clayton, Lee County spokeswoman. This could lead to confusion during emergency ambulance trips.

“Normally, emergency responders go to the nearest hospital if the patient is unconscious,” she said. “We haven’t discussed what would happen in this case.”

Conscious patients can tell responders where they would like to be taken for treatment.

The Wednesday meeting was the first part of a longer review process, said Mary Gibbs, director of community development.

“This is the very first step,” she said. “The submitted application will now undergo staff review, which will take a while. We won’t have another hearing anytime soon. We have to review this for compliance with the land development code and zoning resolutions.”

VIDEO: Lee Health at Coconut Point in Estero