NAPLES, Fla. – Aug. 14, 2020 The NCH Healthcare System has announced that the 2020 NCH Hospital Ball has been canceled due to the pandemic. At NCH, our top priority is, and always has been, the health and well-being of our community; therefore, the decision to cancel was made after carefully reviewing healthcare recommendations for large gatherings.
The NCH Hospital Ball has been the longest running charity event in the history of Naples and Collier County. In previous years, this signature event has contributed to a variety of hospital projects, such as Cardiac Care, Stroke, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the North Naples Emergency Department expansion, and most recently, the Emergency Department renovation at the NCH Baker Hospital Downtown and the XENEX germ-zapping robots.
This year’s funding was anticipated to build and equip a state-of-the-art 10,000 sq. ft. Simulation Center (Sim Center) at the NCH Downtown campus. Simulation is an experimental learning process for adult learners through active participation and subsequent reflection. The Sim Center will provide the staff at NCH and eventually others in the community such as private medical practices, schools and colleges, EMS, and police training in procedural skills, with a scenario-based learning center that will focus on teamwork, communication, as well as inter and intra-professional training.
“While we are disappointed to cancel the Hospital Ball this year, our main concern is the health and safety of our community, namely the 400 attendees the event typically attracts,” said event Chair, Douglas W. Harrington, DO, FCCP in Critical Care Medicine, Associate Program Director of the NCH Internal Medicine Residency Program, Medical Director of the NCH Multidisciplinary Simulation Center, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic School Medicine.
“We want to assure our community that the Hospital Ball will be back when we can celebrate, safely, together,” said Paul Hiltz, President & CEO of the NCH Healthcare System. “Advancing our mission to help everyone live a longer, happier and healthier life remains our top priority.”
NCH remains extremely grateful for the community’s generous support that continues to shape the hospital and allows the system to serve more than 40,000 patients admitted to our hospitals and 123,000 emergency visits annually.
To learn more about the NCH Simulation Center plans and NCH’s current fundraising initiatives, please contact the NCH Center for Philanthropy at 239-624-2000.
