Gulf Coast Medical Center will open its doors this weekend and introduce community residents to the brand new facility on Daniel’s Parkway in Fort Myers.
The medical center is an expansion of the older Gulf Coast Hospital, but infuses all of the services available at both Gulf Coast and Southwest Florida Regional. On Saturday, from 2-5 p.m., it will offer guided tours through vital departments.
“There is no way for us to know for certain but we believe we will have a large turnout and we are looking forward to it,” said Karen Krieger, spokesperson for the Lee Memorial Health System.
Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert starting at 2 p.m. and the South Fort Myers JROTC will present the colors.
Krieger said there will be a brief ceremony for guests followed by tours of the facility and a video in honor of the employees of both Gulf Coast Hospital and Southwest Florida Regional. There also will be supervised activities for children and refreshments including cupcakes and punch.
Gulf Coast Medical Center is a 550,000-square-foot facility with 349 beds including an emergency department with 43 beds, 28 exam rooms and 33 treatment rooms. The center is 436,00 square feet of new construction plus renovations to the 20,000-square- foot existing hospital.
Almost all of the patient rooms are private and include flat screen televisions for patients and families.
Dave Mainous, assistant director of renal transplant at Lee Memorial Health System, said the transplant program is moving from an outdated facility to the brand new hospital.
“We are constantly trying to do more transplants and grow like every transplant program,” said Mainous. “The entire hospital is a lot more advanced, the rooms are bigger, operating rooms are bigger and the facility is bigger.”
Other transplant centers have a waiting list of 37 months while the kidney program at Lee Memorial Health System is a little over one year, he said. The program conducts 35 to 50 kidney transplants a year.
“We are moving from the facility that is old and tired to a brand-new, ultra-clean modern sophisticated place,” said Mainous.
The surgery department includes 22 expanded operating rooms, much larger than the rooms in the older versions of Gulf Coast or Southwest Florida Regional.
According to Krieger there is an opportunity for the hospital to expand by adding up to 252 more beds by adding 76 beds above each tower and 24 intensive care beds.
The hospital opens for business on March 8.