NCH (Naples Community Hospital) has announced a strategic partnership with Northwestern Medicine to significantly enhance cancer care services and increase access to clinical trials for residents of Collier County, Florida. The collaboration aims to address the current trend where approximately 40% of Collier County residents seek cancer treatment outside the region.
Paul Hiltz, president and CEO of NCH, emphasized the importance of providing comprehensive oncology services locally. "(Although) NCH has provided oncology services for years, about 40% of the people that live in Collier County leave home to get treated for cancer," Hiltz stated. "We don’t think that’s good. We want to change that."
The partnership will involve several key initiatives, starting with the expansion of infusion services at NCH. A nurse navigation program will also be developed to guide patients through their cancer journey, and efforts will be made to recruit physicians specializing in cancer subspecialties currently unavailable in Collier County. Furthermore, plans are underway to establish a dedicated women’s cancer center at NCH North Hospital.
NCH currently manages around 1,500 oncology visits annually and anticipates that this collaboration with Northwestern Medicine will enable them to double or even exceed that number. This affiliation marks the second partnership of its kind for NCH, a private nonprofit healthcare system comprising two hospital campuses with a total of 713 beds and numerous outpatient centers. The financial details of the philanthropic donations supporting this project have not been disclosed.
