NAPLES, Fla. — NCH Healthcare has broken ground on a new Heart and Stroke Critical Care Center in Naples, marking the beginning of construction for a facility that medical professionals say will save lives.
Fox 4's Eric Lovelace takes us to the ceremony:
The $265 million "R.M Schulze Family Heart and Stroke Critical Care Center" will be connected to the existing hospital and will specialize in treating heart disease and stroke, two of the top five deadliest diseases in America according to the most recent CDC data.
The groundbreaking ceremony featured the traditional shovels and hardhats as officials celebrated what they're calling "significant healthcare advancement". Paul Hiltz, the CEO of NCH Naples, says he believes this is a community win.
"I think the community is really gonna be proud of this when we get it done," Hiltz said.
Dr. Viktoria Totoraitis, an NCH physician, emphasized that despite the substantial cost, the investment will provide crucial benefits for patients.
"We're going to have new and improved state-of-the-art equipment and technology," Dr. Totoraitis said.
Dr. Totoraitis says this facility will be particularly important in cases where rapid response is critical.
"The problem with heart attacks and strokes is you don't have that time," Totoraitis said.
Beyond improving patient care, NCH officials hope the new facility will help attract top medical talent to the area.
"It's going to help bring in other new doctors, and bring in new providers," Dr. Totoraitis said. "You can't really build a program unless you have a really good foundation, and that's what this is doing."
