Paul Hiltz and Matthew A. Love
Across the country, access to maternity and pediatric care is quietly disappearing. In just the past year, at least 29 hospitals closed their maternity services, and today more than 2.3 million women of childbearing age live in so-called “maternity care deserts.” At the same time, shortages in pediatric specialists continue to grow. These trends reveal how complex and resource-intensive women’s and children’s health care have become, and how quickly community needs can outpace local infrastructure.
In Southwest Florida, our region is growing rapidly. Each year, thousands of babies are born at Naples Comprehensive Health (NCH) and families rely on our neonatal and pediatric intensive care services as well as pediatric emergency services. As medical needs become more complex, many families still must travel outside our community for specialized treatment, separated from loved ones when support matters most. This is not due to a lack of commitment or capability. It is the reality of growth, demographic change, and rising clinical complexity.
That is why NCH and Nicklaus Children’s Health System have developed a shared commitment to bringing exceptional, specialized care for women and children close to home. Our teams already collaborate across neonatal and pediatric intensive care, women’s services, and outpatient care, improving coordination and helping more families receive care locally. Still, no health system can meet these needs alone. We depend on the support of donors, policymakers, community partners, local media, and volunteers to build and sustain the care our community needs.
Nicklaus Children’s brings nationally recognized pediatric expertise to this collaboration. For 17 consecutive years, it is ranked among the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, with more ranked pediatric specialties than any children’s hospital in South Florida. Its clinicians are leaders in advanced care, research, and access to novel therapies for children with complex conditions.
NCH is the only hospital in Collier County offering a 24-hour pediatric emergency department, pediatric intensive care, neonatal intensive care, and the only birthing hospital in the county, as well as being recognized as high performing in maternity care, and one of only five maternity access hospitals recognized in Florida.
Now, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation, this vision is moving from collaboration to transformation. Together, we launched the Van Domelen Institute for Women & Children and are advancing plans for the Van Domelen Pavilion for Women & Children on the NCH North Hospital campus.
The Van Domelen Institute will unite outpatient, preventive, specialty, and community-based services in one coordinated model supporting women, children, and families across the lifespan, from prenatal care through long-term care coordination. Planned services include maternal-fetal medicine, pediatric subspecialties, gynecologic oncology, pelvic floor therapy, menopause care, behavioral health, and more.
The Van Domelen Pavilion will be the physical home for this model: a state-of-the-art center designed for women and children, with labor and delivery suites, expanded operating rooms, enhanced maternal-fetal medicine, a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, and advanced pediatric and women’s critical care space. Most importantly, it will allow more families to receive advanced care right here, close to home.
NCH will manage women’s services, while Nicklaus Children’s will lead pediatric services within it. Together, we will continue working closely with local pediatricians, obstetricians, gynecologists, and community providers to ensure seamless, coordinated care. This is collaboration, not competition.
The Van Domelen Institute and Pavilion are being built through philanthropy and community partnership, grounded in the belief that women and children deserve the very best care near the people who love them. When care is closest to home, families are stronger, communities are healthier, and hope is never far away.
For more information, visit NCHmd.org/WomenandChildren
Paul Hiltz is president and CEO of Naples Comprehensive Health (NCH). Matthew A. Love is president and CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Health System.
