Families should not have to leave their community during vulnerable moments
In Southwest Florida, where tens of thousands of children are born and raised far from the nearest specialized medical center, two health systems have joined hands around a transformative philanthropic gift to build something the region has long lacked: a place where the most vulnerable moments of family life—high-risk pregnancies, critically ill newborns, children with complex needs—can be met close to home. The Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation's investment in Naples Comprehensive Health and Nicklaus Children's Hospital signals not merely a construction project, but a reckoning with what a community owes its youngest and most fragile members.
- Collier County's pediatric population has surpassed 65,000 and is still growing, while the region's only pediatric emergency department has been absorbing the strain largely alone.
- Families facing high-risk pregnancies or critically ill newborns have had no choice but to travel far from home during moments when distance itself becomes a form of suffering.
- A $350 million commitment—anchored by the Van Domelen Foundation and structured to draw 80 percent of its funding from philanthropy—will erect a four-story, 156,000-square-foot pavilion with a Level III NICU, advanced surgical suites, and a rooftop helipad at NCH North Hospital.
- Beyond the building, the Van Domelen Institute will weave together outpatient maternal and pediatric care with community health partners, aiming to extend support from prenatal visits through chronic disease management across a lifetime.
- Groundbreaking has not yet occurred, and the harder work—raising remaining funds, managing construction, and proving the integrated care model delivers—still lies ahead.
Naples Comprehensive Health and Nicklaus Children's Hospital announced a sweeping expansion of women and children's services in Southwest Florida, made possible by a transformative gift from the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation. The initiative will establish a new institute and construct a four-story, 156,000-square-foot pavilion on the NCH North Hospital campus—part of a project valued at more than $350 million.
The need is real and growing. Collier County is home to more than 65,000 children, with projections pointing to further growth, while NCH—which delivered nearly 3,700 babies last year and runs the county's only pediatric emergency department—has been stretched to meet demand. The new pavilion will rise above the existing emergency departments at NCH North, housing modern labor and delivery suites, advanced operating rooms, maternal-fetal medicine services, and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit capable of caring for the most critically ill newborns without requiring transport elsewhere. A rooftop helipad will support emergency transfers when necessary.
But the physical structure is only part of the vision. The Van Domelen Institute for Women and Children is designed as an integrated care model—connecting outpatient services like prenatal care, pelvic floor therapy, menopause management, and pediatric subspecialty care with community partners including Healthcare Network and David Lawrence Centers. The underlying conviction is that care must extend beyond hospital walls, through prevention, education, and chronic disease management across a patient's lifespan.
Julia Van Domelen described the gift as completing a puzzle, calling it the missing piece of the Foundation's decades-long work in the region. NCH president Paul Hiltz and Nicklaus Children's CEO Matthew Love both emphasized the partnership's ambition to serve generations by bringing nationally recognized pediatric expertise closer to home.
The financial structure is notable: organizers are targeting 80 percent of the $350 million through philanthropic fundraising, making continued community support essential. Groundbreaking has not yet occurred, and the project remains in its planning phase—meaning the real test of whether this integrated model can keep families close to home during their most vulnerable moments is still to come.
Naples Comprehensive Health and Nicklaus Children's Hospital announced on Tuesday a sweeping expansion of women and children's services across Southwest Florida, underwritten by a transformative gift from the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation. The initiative will establish both a new institute bearing the foundation's name and construct a four-story, 156,000-square-foot pavilion on the NCH North Hospital campus—a project carrying a price tag of more than $350 million.
The region's healthcare landscape has shifted dramatically. Collier County is now home to more than 65,000 children, with projections showing another four percent increase over the next five years. NCH, which delivered nearly 3,700 babies last year and operates the only pediatric emergency department in the county, has found itself stretched. The new pavilion and institute represent an attempt to keep families from having to travel beyond their community during some of their most vulnerable moments—pregnancies at high risk, births requiring specialized care, children with complex medical needs.
The Van Domelen Pavilion itself will sit atop the existing emergency departments at NCH North, housing modern labor and delivery suites, advanced operating rooms, enhanced maternal-fetal medicine services, and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit designed to handle the most critically ill newborns without requiring transport elsewhere. A rooftop helipad will enable rapid emergency transport when needed. But the physical structure is only half the story. The Van Domelen Institute for Women and Children represents something broader: an integrated care model that stitches together outpatient services—maternal-fetal medicine, prenatal and postpartum care, pelvic floor therapy, menopause management, pediatric subspecialty care—with community partners like Healthcare Network, David Lawrence Centers, and Neighborhood Health Clinic. The idea is that care doesn't end when a patient leaves the hospital. Prevention, education, and chronic disease management extend across the lifespan through coordinated support.
Julia Van Domelen framed the gift as completing a puzzle. "It represents the missing piece of our Foundation's work in Southwest Florida," she said, emphasizing that families should not have to leave their community "during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives." The foundation has been a partner to NCH for more than two decades, funding everything from an obstetric emergency department that has helped save mothers and babies facing high-risk pregnancies to advanced simulation training for nurses and physicians. Paul Hiltz, NCH's president and CEO, called the gift extraordinary and said it ensures that "every woman, every child, and every family in Southwest Florida can access exceptional care right here at home."
Matthew Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children's Health System, emphasized the partnership's scope. By bringing nationally recognized pediatric expertise closer to home through an integrated, family-centered model, the two organizations aim to serve generations. Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, through their foundation's involvement, have also committed to the vision.
The financial structure is noteworthy: NCH and Nicklaus Children's are targeting 80 percent of the $350 million through philanthropic fundraising, meaning the Van Domelen gift is substantial but not the entire sum. As a nonprofit health system, NCH depends on community generosity to expand facilities and implement advanced technologies. This project, organizers say, represents a defining moment in that effort—and a signal that further community support will be essential to fully realize the vision.
Breakground has not yet been broken. The pavilion and institute remain in the planning phase, with the foundation's gift and the partnership between two major health systems now in place. What comes next is the harder work: raising the remaining funds, managing construction, and then the real test—whether the integrated model of care actually delivers on its promise to keep families close to home and connected to the support they need.
Notable Quotes
It represents the missing piece of our Foundation's work in Southwest Florida and our commitment to ensuring that women and children have access to the highest level of care at every stage of life, close to home.— Julia Van Domelen, Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation
This next step ensures that every woman, every child, and every family in Southwest Florida can access exceptional care right here at home.— Paul Hiltz, President and CEO of Naples Comprehensive Health
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Southwest Florida need this now? The region has hospitals already.
The region is growing fast—65,000 children now, more coming. But there's only one pediatric emergency department in the whole county. Families with high-risk pregnancies or critically ill newborns have had to travel. That's not just inconvenient; it's dangerous.
So this is about geography and access, not just adding more beds.
Exactly. It's about keeping families close to home during the moments when they're most vulnerable. But it's also about something subtler—connecting hospital care to community support. A mother leaves the hospital after delivery; does she know where to get postpartum care? Does she know about pelvic floor therapy? The institute tries to answer that.
The Van Domelen Foundation has been funding NCH for twenty years. Why this gift now, at this scale?
Julia Van Domelen called it "the missing piece." They've funded pieces of women and children's care before—the obstetric emergency department, simulation training. But there was no unified model, no pavilion that brought it all together. This gift is about completing the picture they've been building.
Who's actually paying for this? Three hundred fifty million is enormous.
The Van Domelen gift is transformative, but NCH and Nicklaus Children's are targeting 80 percent of the total through philanthropy. So there's still a significant fundraising campaign ahead. It's not a done deal yet—it's a commitment and a plan.
What happens to families in the meantime, while this is being built?
The institute is already operating in some form—it's being renamed and formalized. The pavilion is the new construction, the physical anchor. That's years away. But the integrated care model, the connections between hospital and community partners, that can start now.