Repairing Health Care-Stat!

going to care for this monstrous

increase in the next 10 to 20 years?” Morton says. “The average nurse today is

almost 50 years old.” Few young people are choosing nursing as a profession, he

adds.

Like Nathan, Morton believes that in the next few years area

health systems must ask some hard questions, including where and to whom they

plan to provide service. It’s easy to plan for profitable services to affluent

residents, he says. “It’s difficult to provide the same quality of services to

that element of the community that can’t afford to pay for it. Should the

people in Immokalee or East Naples have to travel 30 or 40 miles? Or should

medical services be built so they can equally access medicine? Do we have

resources located so they are available, accessible and affordable?”

Morton has embraced business tools that increase efficiency.

Tech-nology, although costly, can make operations more effective and contribute

to cost savings, such as reducing the length of a patient’s stay. “We have to

stay progressive,” he emphasizes. “We have to embrace the philosophy that

hospitals don’t have walls.”

Building a Reputation

As the chief executive officer of Southwest Florida Regional

Medical Center and Gulf Coast Hospital in Fort Myers, Royal doesn’t take

anything for granted. “I believe comfortably, strongly and honestly that we

have repositioned ourselves as a very important provider of health care

services in the community and we’ve regained the trust and respect of

physicians, patients, family members, our employees and the community at

large,” he says of efforts to rebuild the reputation of the hospital, which is

owned by scandal-plagued HCA, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain.

Royal is now focusing on the challenge of growth. In

February 2001, the company acquired the property north and south of Gulf Coast

Hospital, located at the intersection of Daniels and Metro parkways in Fort

Myers, expanding it from 16 acres to 52 acres. Royal and his team are currently

deciding how to frame both hospitals as one organization. “Gulf Coast and

Southwest Florida Regional are within five miles of each other. We have staff

that work back and forth between the two. There’s a better opportunity for

synergy between the two of those hospitals than many I’ve seen in a long, long

time,” he says. “We can become an even more important provider of health care

services in the community.”

Like his competitors, he must struggle with staff shortages.

Although the area’s quality of life attracts workers, Royal believes that

continued business growth will create a larger employee pool. He also notes

that local universities and technical schools are providing a small, albeit

growing, base of workers.

Despite all the hurdles, Royal is looking forward to what’s

ahead. “I think those golden years are now and will be in the future. This is a

fabulous industry for people to be involved in, with plenty of challenges but

phenomenal opportunities,” he says.

Behind the Cloth Curtain

Cleveland Clinic Florida

Facilities: Naples campus includes a 70-bed hospital,

medical clinic, surgery center and diagnostic center.

Physicians: 50.

Structure: Not-for-profit,

private.

Key figure: Naples hospital, which opened in 2001, cost

$57 million. Company does not release financials.

Prognosis: Add 60 beds to its North Naples hospital, if

approved by the state.

Web site: www.cleveland

clinic.org/florida.

Health Management Associates

Facilities: Lehigh Regional Medical Center (formerly East

Pointe Hospital), 88 beds; Charlotte Regional Memorial Hospital, 208 beds. Owns

42 hospitals in 14 states.

Physicians: More than 2,200 nationwide.

Structure: For-profit, publicly traded.

Key figure: The company earned $1.88 billion in revenue in

2001.

Prognosis: Build the 100-bed Collier Regional Medical

Center, if approved by the state.

Web site: www.hma-corp.com.

HCA

Facilities: Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center, 400

beds; Gulf Coast Hospital, 120 beds; Bonita Bay Medical Centre, Bonita Bay

Surgery Centre, The Patty Berg Cancer Center, Orthopedic Center. HCA owns

nearly 200 hospitals in 24 states.

Physicians: More than 600 locally.

Structure: For-profit, publicly traded.

Key figure: The company earned $18 billion in revenuestyle="mso-spacerun: yes"> in 2001.

Prognosis: Develop a strategic plan to expand Gulf Coast

Hospital and integrate services between the two hospitals.

Web sites: www.swfrmc.com; www.gulfcoasthospital.com.

Lee Memorial Health System

Facilities: Cape Coral Hospital, 281 beds; HealthPark

Medical Center, 169 beds; The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida, 70

beds; Lee Memorial Hospital, 367 beds; The Rehabilitation Hospital, 60 beds;

122 beds; Lee Memorial Home Health,

several Lee Convenient Care

centers.

Physicians: 800-plus.

Structure: Not-for-profit,

public.

Key figure: Revenue for 2001 reached $428.9 million.

Prognosis: Add 122 beds to HealthPark Medical Center and

open a pediatric ER and out-patient center at HealthPark.

Web site: www.leememorial.org.

NCH Healthcare System

Facilities: Naples Community Hospital, 408 beds; North

Collier Hospital, 98 beds; Whitaker Wellness Center; several Outpatient

Rehabilitation Centers; Naples Diagnostic Imaging Center, walk-in NCH

Healthcare Centers. Partners with Lee Memorial Health System to own and operate

the Bonita Community Health Center in Bonita Springs. Also owns Community Home

Services and DSI Laboratory Services.

Physicians: 540.

Structure: Not-for-profit,

public.

Key figure: Gross patient charges for 2001 were $742.5

million. Net patient charges (minus charges for charity care and welfare, and

Medicare and Medicaid allowances) totaled $338.2

million.

Prognosis: Open the final phase of The Regional Cancer

Institute at the Lutgert Pavilion, a partnership with Duke University Medical

Center, in the fall; complete a 28-bed addition to The Gen. David H. and

Shirley A. Baker Center for Women and Children (formerly The Birth Place) in

North Collier and develop the nursery into a level 2 neonatal unit; add 30

medical rehabilitation beds and build an acute stroke program at its Naples campus.

Web site: www.nchhcs.org.