FORT MYERS, Fla. — Lee Health will now be a private health system, but what does that mean?
Fox 4's Bella Line was at the Lee County Commissioners meeting Monday night when they voted for Lee Health's plan to be a private nonprofit.
Lee Health says the new system will help them level the playing field, as more health systems enter the county.
Watch Bella's full report below:
"The average patient, even the average staff member, really isn't going to see any significant change," said Dr. Lawrence Antonucci, CEO and President of Lee Health. "Tt's really a matter of a governance change that allows us to do more for the people."
The average patient may not see a change right away, but the change in title actually allows Lee Health to expand outside of Lee County, giving the hospital system access to many more potential patients.
"We recognized we're going to have to do something differently so we've been working with the legislature all this time to get a change that would allow us to compete more effectively," said Dr. Antonucci. "As a public entity, there were a lot of restrictions placed on us. It was very cumbersome for us to do joint ventures, partnerships, things that are pretty standard now in healthcare."
Getting bigger also levels up recruiting, as a bigger health system can attract better medical talent, and with that, better service.
Better service was something the Chief Nursing Officer and a sea of blue scrubs touted at the commission meeting Monday night.
"Last time I was here I spoke about the passion my fellow nurses and I have for ensuring the residents of Lee County have a community-focused non-profit system that can compete and innovate in this ever-changing healthcare market," said Jennifer Higgins, Chief Nursing Officer at Lee Health Systems.
Still, county commissioners made sure Lee Health remembered its roots.
A mission agreement between the hospital board and commissioners promised that Lee County residents would always benefit from the hospital they helped grow.
"One of our top priorities was to make sure that if people were being cared for now, that they could continue to be cared for regardless of their ability to pay," said Brian Hamman, a Lee County Commissioner, "So that's guaranteed in the mission agreement."
