Lee Health: Evaluating its business structure
Since 1916, Lee Health has been caring for and serving our community. From the beginning, we have been unwavering in our commitment to our mission of meeting the healthcare needs of Lee County residents regardless of their ability to pay while also providing an opportunity-filled, positive work environment for our team members and physicians. We have grown and evolved along with our community. For the first 50 years of our history, Lee Health operated as a community-focused nonprofit entity. Then, in 1968, we began operating as an independent special healthcare district created by the Florida Legislature and governed by a publicly elected Board of Directors.
Last year, the Florida Legislature, recognizing growing pressures facing public health systems, established clear guidelines for Lee Health to review our structure and evaluate the potential benefits for the residents of Lee County if Lee Health returned to a community-focused not-for-profit structure. In August, our Board of Directors voted to undertake the evaluation process laid out by the Florida Legislature, which included engaging a highly respected healthcare advisory firm with experience in such evaluations to provide us with an unbiased, third-party perspective and expertise on the matter.
The evaluation is one step in a thoughtful and lengthy consideration and discernment process. Any potential change to our structure would require public meetings and additional votes by our Board of Directors and the Lee County Board of County Commissioners.
Throughout this process, we have been committed to transparency and have been sharing information and answering questions along the way. We established a single point of truth on our website—LeeHealth.org/LookingAhead for information, frequently asked questions and more. We also created a dedicated email address for questions: LookingAhead@LeeHealth.org. We hosted educational community town hall meetings earlier this month at locations throughout Lee County to field questions and gain input from our community’s residents.
Next week, at 3 p.m., Jan. 25, the Lee Health Board of Directors will hold a public hearing in the Community Room at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers. This is one of the final requirements of this phase of the conversion evaluation process before Lee Health receives the evaluation report and begins the discernment phase. Residents of Lee County are invited to attend this public hearing.
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Larry Antonucci, M.D., MBA is the president & CEO of Lee Health, Southwest Florida’s major destination for health care offering acute care, emergency care, rehabilitation and diagnostic services, health and wellness education, and community outreach and advocacy programs. Visit LeeHealth.org to learn more.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Lee Health: Evaluating its business structure
