After expanding service lines for heart and stroke care, orthopedics and cancer in recent years, Collier County’s largest health care system announced plans Jan. 20 to significantly expand specialized services for women’s and children’s care.
At a press conference, Naples Comprehensive Health, in collaboration with Miami-based Nicklaus Children’s, announced the launch of the Van Domelen Institute for Women & Children and future plans for the Van Domelen Pavilion for Women & Children, a $350 million addition to NCH’s North Naples campus. The project is intended to deliver advanced health care for women and children that is not currently available in Collier County.
The lead gift for the institute and pavilion came from the Bill and Julia Van Domelen Foundation, a longtime philanthropic supporter of NCH and other Southwest Florida health care organizations.
According to NCH, the Van Domelen gift will fund both the Van Domelen Institute for Women & Children, the new name of the system’s existing women’s and children’s program, and the Van Domelen Pavilion for Women & Children, which will serve as the program’s physical hub once completed. NCH declined to disclose the amount of the gift, calling it “transformative” and saying the foundation requested it remain private.
Naples philanthropist Julia Van Domelen addresses guests at a Jan. 20 press conference announcing the Van Domelen Institute and Pavilion for Women & Children at NCH.
NCH currently operates the only labor and delivery unit and neonatal intensive care unit in Collier County, as well as the county’s only pediatric emergency department and pediatric intensive care unit. All are located on the north campus and are facing space constraints as demand grows with the region’s population.
Mara Hammond, NCH chief impact officer, said current services are “well over capacity” and limited in their ability to elevate care.
“For example, our current neonatal intensive care unit is not outfitted to elevate to NICU level three,” Hammond said. “It would require such substantial renovations to bring it to that level that we would actually lose the number of beds that we currently have.”
Hammond said the four-story, 156,000-square-foot pavilion — essentially a new hospital — will be built above the existing pediatric and adult emergency departments at NCH North Hospital, 11190 Health Park Blvd., and will address those limitations.
Plans call for state-of-the-art labor and delivery suites, advanced operating rooms, enhanced maternal-fetal medicine and expanded women’s health services, including gynecologic oncology surgeries. The pavilion also will include a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, which NCH said will allow women with high-risk pregnancies and critically ill newborns to remain close to home for care.
The project will include a new parking garage and a rooftop helipad to replace the current ground-level helipad.
NCH said it is partnering with Nicklaus Children’s to raise 80% of the $350 million cost through philanthropy before breaking ground.
NCH President and CEO Paul Hiltz speaks during a Jan. 20 announcement detailing plans for a $350 million expansion of women’s and children’s health services.
Filling a gap in advanced care
At the press conference, NCH President and CEO Paul Hiltz thanked Julia Van Domelen for her commitment to health care in Collier County and for saving many lives through her philanthropic gifts.
Hiltz told an audience of more than 100 guests that while hospitals nationwide are closing or limiting obstetric and pediatric services, Van Domelen’s commitment and the partnership with Nicklaus Children’s make it possible for NCH to expand those services.
“Obstetrics units and pediatric units are really under severe pressure, but with Julia’s help and with some creativity with our physicians, nurses and the team at NCH, back in September we worked with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital to develop a partnership that would make pediatric care and OB care feasible and sustainable for a long, long time,” Hiltz said.
Van Domelen told the audience that “this gift is about families.”
“It will ensure that women and children will receive the highest level of care close to home,” she said. “It’s about prevention, connection, support at every stage of life.”
She said the Van Domelen Foundation has long supported organizations serving families in Collier County, including Healthcare Network, the David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health, Neighborhood Health Clinic, Naples Children Foundation, Baker Senior Center, NCH and others.
Matthew Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Health System, said the collaboration reflects a commitment to outstanding pediatric care.
Matthew Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Health System, speaks about the expanded partnership with NCH to deliver advanced pediatric care in Collier County.
“This collaboration is built on a strong foundation that began four years ago when we started partnering on the NICU and the PICU and other services, and since then we’ve taken strides to advance this care,” Love said.
He said expanded NICU telehealth coverage will soon provide families with greater access to pediatric subspecialists, including cardiology, endocrinology, neurology and ear, nose and throat care.
“This model allows babies to receive timely care while staying close to home,” Love said.
NCH statistics show about 65,000 children currently live in Collier County. From 2021 to 2024, NCH reported that 50% of pediatric patients needing inpatient specialty care left the county for treatment. The system also said its Birthplace on the NCH North campus is operating at 97% capacity, with maternal-fetal medicine visits increasing 400% since 2019.
An exterior rendering highlights the glass façade and patient-focused design of the future Van Domelen Pavilion for Women & Children at NCH.
Structure and governance
NCH and Nicklaus Children’s have collaborated at the NCH North campus since late 2022 under a professional services agreement in which Nicklaus operated the NICU, PICU, general pediatric inpatient services, outpatient sedation and routine newborn care, Hammond said.
In September 2025, NCH formalized a 30-year affiliation agreement with Nicklaus Children’s. Under the agreement, NCH will own the Van Domelen Pavilion for Women & Children, while Nicklaus Children’s will operate within the facility to manage and deliver pediatric care.
Hammond said Nicklaus Children’s will launch a multiphase recruitment and development plan under the Van Domelen Institute for Women & Children to build a pediatric subspecialty team in Collier County.
The goal, she said, is “to close care gaps, reduce delays in specialty services and establish a sustainable, community-based pediatric care model for the county.”
Over the next one to three years, Nicklaus Children’s will prioritize hiring pediatric subspecialists in areas including general surgery, cardiology, neurology, endocrinology, gastroenterology and pulmonology.
“This expansion will not compete with existing community pediatricians or partners,” Hammond said. “Instead, it will fill gaps and elevate care that is unavailable to our community today.”
NCH said it will remain an independent, locally governed nonprofit health system, with Nicklaus Children’s serving as a clinical affiliate in pediatric care rather than an owner or operator of the broader NCH system.
link
