CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A mental health facility that provided behavioral services to Cape Coral residents will not reopen after being closed since Hurricane Ian, impacting approximately 900 patients who now must travel to Fort Myers for in-person care.
The City of Cape Coral terminated SalusCare's lease effective May 1, 2025, citing contractual violations including late rent payments, failure to maintain operating hours, and failure to provide a liability insurance policy.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price explain the move to Fort Myers:
"Taking care of people, caring about people, is in my blood. It's what I am passionate about," said Stacey Cook, President and Chief Executive Officer of SalusCare.
Cook has been with the mental health care facility in Cape Coral for a decade and had gone before the city council to explain the need to renew the lease of the building located across from city hall.
"We've been doing therapy and psychiatry, and just kind of was getting bigger and more robust over the years," Cook said.
According to Cook, her team had been working with FEMA to secure funding to repair hurricane damage and reopen the facility.
"What we've been doing is advocating for a lease extension. It was something that was required by FEMA in order to release those funds," Cook said. "So we had presented at city council, and we had advocated for a lease renewal, and unfortunately, that couldn't happen."
When asked why the lease couldn't be renewed, Cook responded, "You'd have to ask the city."
The city's public information officer stated in an email that "The SalusCare lease was terminated for default of their contractual obligations, effective May 1, 2025."
The city also disputed claims made by SalusCare regarding FEMA assistance requirements, stating that the organization's existing lease was sufficient to apply for FEMA funding and that SalusCare had used "false statements" to persuade the city council to renew the lease.
Additionally, the city claimed SalusCare "greatly exaggerated the costs related to the repair of their backflow prevention device in an effort to convince the Council to provide financial assistance."
FEMA provided a statement saying they have given nearly $1.2 million to the State of Florida for SalusCare to help the organization recover from Hurricane Ian. However, Cook stated they did not receive any FEMA funding for the Cape Coral location.
FEMA, in its statement, said that applicants should contact their program delivery manager with specific programmatic questions. We’re committed to reimbursing every dollar of federal assistance for which communities are eligible under the law.
Price reached out to SalusCare following the claims made by the city as well as the new information received from FEMA.
SalusCare Cape Coral said in a statement:
SalusCare was never made aware of the termination provisions until we received the termination letter. The facts are - the roof blew off during Hurricane Ian, and the building was unsafe. Had we received a request for the $10 annual rent, we would have paid it. While we can’t speak for FEMA, we were told by our FEMA consultant that the lease extension was required in order to receive the funds for repairs, and that was the basis of our request to the city.
SalusCare followed the process and acted in good faith to pursue all FEMA requirements – more than 200 hours was spent diligently pursuing it. Despite multiple requests to work with the City on a solution, the lease was terminated without discussion.
Cook says they are doing their best to continue serving the Cape Coral residents they have served since 1991, despite not having a location next to City Hall.
The city indicated that it hopes to find another organization to provide mental health services to Cape Coral residents, but acknowledged that the process is in its early stages.
Meanwhile, the 900 patients who regularly received services at the Cape Coral facility must now travel to SalusCare's Fort Myers location or use telehealth services.
"But it doesn't replace the fact that there are some individuals who need to have face-to-face on-site services," Cook said.
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