Physicians Regional Healthcare System taking over Landmark Hospital in North Naples

Physicians Regional Healthcare System is expanding its bed capacity and its orthopedic surgery program.

The for-profit hospital system has signed a long-term lease to take over operations of the 50-bed Landmark Hospital of Southwest Florida, officials with Physicians Regional announced Oct. 12.

Now a long-term care hospital, Landmark will be converted to a general acute-care hospital and renamed Physicians Regional North later this year, according to a news release. The hospital is located at 1285 Creekside Blvd. near the intersection of Goodlette-Frank and Immokalee roads.

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Part of the Franklin, Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, Physicians Regional currently operates two hospitals in Collier County. They are the 109-bed Physicians Regional at Pine Ridge and 100-bed Physicians Regional at Collier Boulevard.

Hospital leaders plan to add a combined 108 beds next year to the two hospitals, with 78 of the new beds at Pine Ridge and 30 beds at Collier Boulevard, according to the news release.

In addition to new beds being added by the end of 2022, the hospital is expanding its service line for musculoskeletal conditions involving orthopedic surgery.

“Our passion is delivering quality patient care to our community and we are excited to expand access to musculoskeletal care as we bring in more surgeons, specialists and a 50-bed hospital to our network,” Scott Lowe, chief executive officer of Physicians Regional, said in a news release.

The hospital system will have a combined 367 beds at three locations by the end of next year. Its main competitor, the nonprofit NCH Healthcare System, will remain the larger provider in Collier with two campuses and a combined 716 beds.

Physicians Regional currently has 300 physicians on staff and roughly 2,000 employees.  NCH has roughly 775 physicians on staff and 5,000 employees.

Southwest Florida has long been a mecca for retirees and tourists where hospitals and other health care providers face constant pressure to keep pace with the growing demand.

U.S. Census data released in May show Collier’s population grew by 1.8% from 2019 to 2020 to nearly 393,000 residents. Tourism data show the county is heading toward a record year with 1.37 million visitors from January through August this year, a 1.4% increase over the same period in 2020.

To help grow the musculoskeletal service line, Physicians Regional signed an agreement with Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company, HOPCo, for its expertise.

The Phoenix-based firm specializes in practice management in orthopedics, spine, hand, pain management, rehabilitation and neurology. The company will start working with hospital staff this month at the Pine Ridge and Collier campuses for the expanded program, according to hospital officials.

“As the population in the Naples areas continues to grow, we believe there is an increasing need for a comprehensive musculoskeletal program that can serve patients of all ages, and that is our goal,” Dr. Wael Barsoum, president and chief transformation officer with HOPCo, said in a news release.

“Whether it is joint replacement, spine care or sports medicine, we want to make sure individuals in the community have access to the highest quality care right where they live,” he said.

NCH was approached by HOPCo to work with Landmark on the same project but declined because it did not meet with NCH's strategic goals around physician engagement and access to state-of-the-art services, Paul Hiltz, NCH's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. 

"In the coming weeks, we will be announcing exciting strategic initiatives around our orthopedic service line," he said.

The changes at Landmark

Physicians Regional did not provide a date for when it will take over operations of Landmark.

“We have executed a long term lease with Landmark and we expect to be operational after the first of the year,” Physicians Regional spokeswoman Brittney Thoman said in an email.

When asked about the status of Landmark employees, Thoman indicated Landmark will still have a presence in Physicians Regional North.

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“Between ongoing Landmark operations and Physicians Regional’s new venture, we expect that all employees at that facility will remain gainfully employed,” she said in an email.

Officials with Landmark could not be reached for comment.

Landmark of Southwest Florida is one of six Landmark hospitals in the U.S. that offer critical care and rehabilitation services for patients with complex medical needs, such as brain injuries or multiple organ failure. Patients often need ventilators and extended stays, often around 25 days before they can go to another care setting.

The other locations are in Athens and Savanna, both in Georgia; and three in Missouri, in Columbia, Joplin and Cape Girardeau, according to Landmark's website. 

More beds coming to several sites

Of the combined 108 private beds being added to the existing Physicians Regional hospitals, 78 beds will go to the Pine Ridge campus and 30 beds will be added to Collier Boulevard, according to Thoman.

Sixteen of the new beds at Pine Ridge will be for an intensive care unit and a cardiovascular intensive care and 12 beds will be for an observation unit, according to hospital officials. The Pine Ridge campus is where open heart surgery was added in 2020.

The 30 private beds being added at Collier Boulevard will all be for medical/surgical purposes, according to the hospital system.