Heart, Vascular, and Stroke Institute

FOCUSED ON QUALITY WITH EXCEPTIONAL PATIENT EXPERIENCES

NCH has been a pioneer in the cardiac arena for nearly 25 years and is committed to providing the highest quality of cardiovascular care in Southwest Florida. To ensure Naples has the best critical care close to home, we are working closely with the city of Naples and our community to build a new home for heart, vascular, and stroke care at the downtown campus.

Update on City Council Process for the Proposed Institute

NCH has submitted an application with a revised, detailed site plan.

Next steps:

  • City Planning staff to review the application and revised site plan.
  • Planning Advisory Board must pass the application and detailed site plan by fall 2023.

Events

City of Naples Design Review Board Meeting

Wednesday, April 26
9:00 a.m.
Naples City Hall/City Council Chamber
735 8th Street South
Naples, FL 34102

You are invited to join us in support.

Neighborhood Open House Events

Thursday, March 2 and Sunday, April 11

Two open house events were held to listen to our neighbors. Thank you to those of you who attended. We appreciate your feedback.

Click the play button to watch video

At the HEART of What Matters Most​

At the Rooney Heart Institute, we believe our compassionate care is what sets us apart. From diagnosis to recovery, our renowned physicians and team provide an unparalleled comprehensive cardiac care program. As one of America’s 100 best hospitals for cardiac care, this commitment has situated NCH to be at the forefront of patient care.

For more information on our award-winning cardiac services, please call 239-624-4200 or visit NCHheart.com.

Our Future

Expanding Our Capabilities

We are working closely with City Council and our community to build a new Heart, Vascular, and Stroke Institute at the downtown campus.

The proximity of the new proposed building to our main hospital building is strategic and will allow for the integration and purposeful use of our existing three new state-of-the-art cardiovascular operating rooms and cardiovascular intensive care units. The addition of two-three additional cardiovascular operating rooms and 20+ other cardiac intensive care units will be vital to care for the needs of our community.

We have modeled many of our strategic objectives around the key foundational elements of every existing top heart program in America, while staying true to being an independent, community-based healthcare organization.

Leading through the core values and integral principles of clinical excellence, research, education and innovations we have embarked in the extraordinary journey to become the premier cardiac care healthcare system in Southwest Florida.

Site Rendering - Video
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Campus Site Overview
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*This is not the official design or rendering of the proposed Heart, Vascular, and Stroke Institute

HEART, VASCULAR, AND STROKE INSTITUTE FAQs

Our goal is for city leaders to consider our proposed text changes to be considered as a Public Service District (PSD). The first reading will be made by Council in August with other readings to follow.

Our ask to the city is to construct one new five story building plus a new parking garage on our main campus. This will provide space to house vital hospital infrastructure, including technology and the support operations for our cardiac care sub-specialties, improving access to our services for our patients.

NCH Healthcare System is committed to providing exceptional and comprehensive heart, stroke, and vascular care to our community. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and nearly 70% of NCH’s heart and stroke patients requiring interventions live within 10 miles of the downtown Baker campus. We are focused on providing clinical excellence with world-class physicians, bolstered by our clinical research and education initiatives. The new building will be home to the heart, vascular, and stroke services and is necessary for us to succeed in delivering top-quality patient care.

We have already received accolades and recognition for our exceptional quality and patient outcomes. Our focus on continued excellence means working to provide additional services and procedures for our patients. We are actively recruiting nationally acclaimed physicians which will advance our research institute where we currently have over a dozen clinical trials underway. While the building is essential to meet the needs of our community, it will also be a symbol of the innovative patient‐centered integrated care that we seek to deliver.

NCH sits literally and figuratively in the heart of our community – and we must plan for the future of healthcare delivery as the needs of our community evolve. Today, many of our services and teams are spread out in multiple buildings, negatively impacting the patient experience and reducing efficiencies. Housing all of our cardiac and stroke services under one roof allows us to better collaborate and provide integrated patient care. The new building will be connected to our current downtown Baker hospital and we are designing and planning it to provide new technologies and efficiencies that will ensure the best possible patient outcomes and patient experiences. The proximity of the new proposed building to our main hospital is strategic and will allow for the integration and purposeful use of our recently renovated emergency department and operating suites.

We will gain talent and expertise in cardiothoracic surgery for the treatment of complex valvular disease for the sickest of patients with failing heart, and the inception of disease-specific Centers of Excellence for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and other complex aortopathies. The new institute will enable access to novel mechanical circulatory support therapies for patients with end-stage heart disease and the collection of contemporary minimally invasive percutaneous heart therapies like no other program in the region.

Diagrams and elevations of the building can be found here. Plans call for a modern, state of the art building that will be a beautiful addition to our campus and one that our entire community will be proud of. Based on concerns about building heights which we have been hearing from residents, we have already amended the plan from a six-story to a five-story building. The trees and vegetation that are already on campus will remain and more foliage will be brought in to further enhance the beauty of our campus while remaining true to the dense landscape feel that is symbolic of old Naples. 

The proximity of the new proposed building to our main hospital is strategic and will allow for the integration and purposeful use of our existing three new state-of-the-art cardiovascular ORs and cardiovascular intensive care units. The addition of two-three additional cardiovascular ORs and 20+ other cardiac intensive care units will be vital to care for the needs of our community.

With the increasing demands of cardiac services, our expectations are to double the number of hybrid, catheterization lab and electrophysiology suites.

We have historically performed approximately 450-500 open-heart procedures per year. With the addition of the new institute and expertise for higher acuity care, our predicted surgical volume will increase but it’s too early to determine how much. We do anticipate an increase in the number of electrophysiology, endovascular and structural heart interventions we will be able to accommodate in the near-term.

We predict that close to 30-40% of cardiothoracic surgical cases and other cases are still being referred out of the region and state. Our vision is to ensure our community can stay close to home for their care.

Our goal is to build a robust heart failure program. Heart failure remains one of the leading causes of cardiac death and the #1 cause of hospital readmissions in America. Offering our patients in the community the full breadth of therapies to treat end-stage heart failure including LVAD and heart transplant may be necessary one day. The inception of these programs may evolve with time, but only and if the demands of our community and our patients are there.

We have modeled many of our strategic objectives around the key foundational elements of every existing top heart program in America, while staying true to being an independent, community-based healthcare organization.

NCH was built by the community, for the community. As a not-for-profit organization, we will need the support of our entire community to build a top-quality cardiac and stroke program. We are in the early stages of planning a fundraising campaign to transform our ability to deliver world-class care and build this new facility. The projected cost is $150 million, a significant portion of which will be raised through philanthropy.

Yes, we plan on improving cardiac services on the north end of town as well with the addition of two new cath labs at North Naples Hospital with plenty of room there to grow and expand services to keep pace with the growing northern section of Collier County. NCH monitors the growth of our community closely to determine where services are needed most, and with nearly 70% of all stroke and cardiac patients living within ten miles of the downtown Baker campus, that is why the decision was made to place it there.

NCH leaders recently conducted a listening tour where we met with groups in our community including HOA groups in Naples. We understand the building height is a concern and appreciate all of the feedback we received. In an effort to bring world-class quality care to the heart of Naples, we have revised our proposal to the city.

The big change is the height. The revised height is almost the same height as our current Baker hospital downtown. Our primary goal with this project is to replace our current Telford building with the new heart, stoke and vascular facility. The new building will attach to our current hospital so that our CVICU can be in close proximity and will provide new technology and efficiencies for our physicians. The building is being developed to ensure we have the capacity to deliver lifesaving services to our community.  View the revised plan here.

If the plan is approved and NCH moves forward with construction, any patient services, such as OPIS, that are currently located in the Telford building will be moved to an alternate convenient location on our campus. Patients of those services will be notified well in advance of any change to location.

The Rooney Heart Institute at NCH of NCH Healthcare System was established over 25 years ago. Our award-winning institute is recognized for its Code Save-A-Heart Program, Open Heart Surgery Program, Structural Heart Program (TAVR and WATCHMAN) and innovative, state-of-the-art technology.

Facts about our current program:

  • Rated in the 95th percentile of STEMI performing hospitals in America and safest place to have a heart attack.
  • NCH currently has 20 cardiologists and three heart surgeons.
  • The Society for Thoracic Surgeons (STS) awarded NCH Healthcare System a top three-star rating for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The three-star rating denotes the highest category of quality.
  • Our specialists have practiced at some of the top systems in the country including Mass General, Emory Healthcare, Cleveland Clinic and more.
  • We have evolved to embrace the contemporary practice of a minimalistic approach to TAVR, using conscious sedation to assure patients an expedited recovery and next day discharge in over 90% of our patients.
  • Our door to balloon time is 38 minutes. The national average is 75 minutes.
  • We have a world-class, innovative SIM Center where clinicians can practice procedures.

PROPOSED PLANS

NCH Healthcare System leaders have been meeting with community members and recently conducted a listening tour where we met with groups in our community including HOA groups in Naples. We understand the building height is a concern and appreciate all the feedback we received. In an effort to bring world-class quality care to the heart of Naples we have revised our proposal to the city.

Below you can read the details of our new proposal to the city. The revised height is almost the same height as our current Baker hospital downtown. Our primary goal with this project is to replace our current Telford building with the new Heart, Stroke, and Vascular building. The new building will attach to our current hospital so that our CVICU can be in close proximity and provide new technology and efficiencies for our physicians. The planned new building will provide lifesaving services to our community.

Revised Plans to City:

  • We have condensed the requested hospital zone to only encompass the main NCH square block campus. NCH property north of 4th Street and east of 8th Street will no longer be part of the new proposed zoning district. Please see the maps above.
  • NCH Healthcare System is only requesting the ability to construct a building to replace the current three story Telford Building with a building that is five stories. 
  • NCH Healthcare System is prepared to put in writing there will only be one replacement building in the hospital zone. 
  • The new replacement building will be the same height as the current Baker Hospital Building. 
  • The total height of the new replacement building will be 75 feet. This replicates the structural height of existing NCH buildings including structural roof and roof top mechanicals. The total height with the mechanicals on top would be 83 feet.

Have a question about the proposed NHI building? Submit it here.

Volume and Access

Heart disease was the leading cause of death in America in 2021 according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

There were nearly 1,500 cardiac-related deaths in Collier County in 2020 (*last reported data by the DOH).

Until recently, around 30% of patients needing advanced cardiovascular services in Southwest Florida were traveling out of the region. NCH is transforming into an Advanced Community Healthcare System™. As a part of this transformation, the Rooney Heart Institute is developing a premier cardiovascular center of excellence, providing unparalleled clinical care in Southwest Florida. As one of America’s 100 best hospitals for cardiac care, this commitment has situated NCH to be at the forefront of patient care.

NCH Critical Care Volume Access Stats Graphic

Having a Heart Attack?

In the last 24 months, NCH has become a top-performing hospital for the treatment of heart attack and stroke.

Door to balloon time is a time measurement from patient arrival to the emergency department (door) and ends when a catheter crosses the artery in the cardiac cath lab (balloon).

NCH Critical Care DoorToBalloon Graphic
NCH Critical Care OpenHeartSurgeryGraphic

TAVR

A procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve through a small catheter, avoiding the need for open heart surgery.

More than 90% of patients undergoing TAVR are able to be discharged within 24 hours. NCH utilizes the contemporary practice of minimalist approach to TAVR, using conscious sedation to assure patients an expedited recovery.

NCH Critical Care VolumeIncrease Graphic

experienced team of cardiologists

We have an experienced team of world-renowned physicians who have trained and practiced at the top institutions in the country.

NCH Critical Care Cardiologists Surgeons

Practiced at leading institutions such as:

Northwestern Medicine logo
Weill Cornell Medicine logo
brown university logo
minneapolis heart institute logo
University of Pennsylvania_logo
Princeton University Logo
georgetown university logo

Read Letters of Support

Want to submit or write a letter of support? Submit it here.​

FROM THE NEWSROOM

Inside the NCH Simulation center

Inside the SIM Center

Fox 4 gives you an inside look at NCH Healthcare System‘s Simulation Center. Read More >

SIM Mannequins

High-tech mannequins in its SIM Center to train and educate staff members. Read More >

Mini Pacemaker

NCH testing a cutting-edge miniature pacemaker no bigger than a grain of rice. Read More >

Support the Cause

The proposed facility for heart, vascular, and stroke care runs on philanthropic support.

Fueled by donor support, we look forward to enhancing the delivery of cardiovascular care and helping more people in our community in the year ahead.

To the many donors who supported the NCH Heart Institute, thank you.

Want to get involved?