NAPLES, Fla. – April 28, 2020 – NCH has received a $100,000 donation to underwrite Community Appreciation care packages for NCH staff members. This donation is being funded by the “Keep My Physician” Fund. The Fund was established in December of 2018 by approximately 100 concerned Naples physicians and residents who were opposed to the decision by the then NCH Administration and Board of Trustees to significantly limit patient admissions by independent primary care physicians. Now that the contributors to the Fund feel that most of their objectives have been achieved, they have decided to use their remaining resources to support the new NCH Administration and Board of Trustee leadership and staff members.
Approximately 5,000 staff members at the hospital who have been working hard every day to protect our community from the COVID-19 virus will be recognized. Each employee will be receiving a Community Appreciation care package containing household goods from Sunshine Ace Hardware and produce from Lipman Family Farms of Immokalee. Fund contributors felt this was an appropriate means to recognize and appreciate what staff has done while also supporting our local economy by purchasing goods for the care packages from locally owned businesses.
“It appears that the new NCH Administration and the new Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees are on the right trajectory to reestablish a patients-first culture,” said Bob Stucker, one of the organizers of the Keep My Physician Fund. “Consequently, we now want to express our appreciation to them and especially to the front-line NCH healthcare workers for all they are doing to provide superior medical care to our community, particularly during this pandemic.”
“Over the past six months I’ve met with thousands of SWFL citizens. It’s been a pleasure getting to know this amazing community. This donation closes a chapter of our past and demonstrates we are moving forward,” said NCH CEO Paul Hiltz. “We are, and always will be, a community healthcare system. And, the generous outpouring of support from Mr. Stucker and the Fund is just another example of the extraordinary community spirit we’ve felt during this pandemic.”
