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During the 10
months that Gulf Coast Medical Center has been open, it has
become clear that the Emergency Department at Lee Memorial
Health System’s newest acute care hospital is becoming the
“go-to” place for cardiac and stroke patients in the county.
GCMC receives
the highest number of cardiac and stroke patients that come by
ambulance for admission due to Gulf Coast’s central location,
the ease of access from Interstate-75 and the strength of the
clinical programs. Additionally, Gulf Coast Medical Center has
been filled almost consistently since its opening.
To accommodate
the cardiac and stroke volumes, we expanded the number of
cardiac beds available at GCMC by 24, which has resulted in the
shifting of the Oncology program to Lee Memorial Hospital.
Consolidating
in-patient oncology strengthens the clinical capabilities of
oncology for our community. It also ensures that our Oncology
program director and nurse specialists will be able to focus
fully on their patients without having to drive between
facilities. The additional oncology beds at LMH were made
available by moving the LMHS Spine Center to the Outpatient
Center at The Sanctuary, which is adjacent to the Regional
Cancer Center.
This is one of
several steps that LMHS will be taking in the coming months to
ensure that we have streamlined our service lines to make them
more convenient and comprehensive for our patients and their
family members.
We will be
updating our signage and facility maps to reflect these changes.
Peace,
Jim Nathan
President, Lee Memorial Health System
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