NCH seeking approval from Naples City Council to build cardiovascular disease center

A hospital in Southwest Florida is working to create a center dedicated to fighting cardiovascular disease.

The leaders of NCH say they are on a mission to slow down and even prevent people from dying of heart disease.

NCH plans to build a new state-of-the-art 6-story facility in place of an older building and name it the NCH Heart, Stroke and Vascular Center. The project has a price tag of $150 million.

“We want to do something that’s friendly to the community and at the same time can deliver world-class heart and stroke care,” said Paul Hiltz, president and CEO of the NCH  Health Care System.

The only holdup for the project is a City of Naples ordinance that caps building size to three stories.

Hiltz said NCH wants to put all of its heart and vascular specialties under one roof that would include physician offices, operating rooms, cath labs and inpatient private hospital rooms.

“This is a growing area, as you know, the population is slightly older so heart disease and strokes are very real here, we do almost 500 open heart surgeries here a year,” Hiltz said.

During an emergency where minutes matter, NCH wants its heart center in its most central location.

Hiltz said 70% of the demand is within 10 miles of downtown Naples.

Hiltz said he is optimistic it will gain approval.

“The mayor and the city council have been very good to work with. The community is really rallying around this,” Hiltz said.

Hiltz will present his plan to the Naples City Council on March 8. The hospital system plans to host a community open house for neighbors on March 1.

Hiltz said the program is not designed to compete with Lee Health.