GUEST EDITORIAL

100 years of care and solutions at Lee Memorial

For 100 years, Lee Memorial Health System, soon to be called Lee Health, has been devoted to caring for our community. Health care, however, is in significant transition. Our challenge at Lee Memorial Health System is to continue a culture of quality care, while recognizing financial and political realities. To this end, Lee Memorial Health System and Lee Memorial Health System Foundation over the next five years will focus on raising awareness and philanthropic support in these strategic areas:

The Bonita and Estero Life Village. The new medical village will have a 24/7 freestanding emergency room, a surgery center, specialty- and primary-care physicians, wellness and rehabilitative programs.

Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. Envision children being pulled in little red wagons between procedures and their hospital rooms. The new hospital opens in 2017. But funding needs a shift from bricks and mortar to an annual philanthropic support. Everything we do and every dollar raised and spent is for our children and for generations to come.

Health and Wellness. Through programs such as Healthy Lee and our many partnerships, we are taking a grass-roots approach to educate and initiate healthy living programs in areas that in the past may have been circumvented.

Regional Cancer Center (RCC). Our five-year success rate for cancers diagnosed and managed exceeds national averages, yet is a great “untold” story. Lee Memorial will begin a multimillion-dollar expansion of the RCC, including a 24,000-square-foot addition to the existing health center on Colonial Boulevard near I-75 in Fort Myers.

The Shipley Center for Cardiothoracic Surgery Innovation, Education & Research. Heart disease is the leading cause of death. To address the issue, Lee Memorial in 2015 created the Shipley Center. By using a formalized program to improve a patient’s health before surgery, outcomes vastly improved. We are at the forefront of developing techniques to significantly improve patient health and vitality.

We’ll present over the next year many different ways to support our region’s health and how each impacts Southwest Florida. Many people have already given for their own unique reasons, or as we label it, “your why.” We want to know your “why” and do all we can to inspire community philanthropy that enhances the overall health of the Southwest Floridians we serve.