NCH Offers Marco Island Urgent Care and Community Support

NCH is proud to be a committed partner to meet the needs of the people of Marco Island and its surrounding communities. While we are currently building a new, state-of-the-art urgent-care facility on Heathwood Drive, we continue to offer extensive services at our existing urgent-care center. In addition, we’re excited to introduce a new member of our Philanthropy team who is exclusively focused on Marco Island and its neighbors. We have a special committee of business and resident leaders to advise us about your healthcare wants on the island, and we continue to give back to the community by sponsoring many local events and activities. 

Construction on New Urgent Care Center 

Last spring, crews broke ground on a new 25,000-square-foot NCH urgent-care center at 40 S. Heathwood Dr. The facility is expected to open by autumn and will feature12 private exam rooms, a triage room, a lab, updated X-ray and CT-scan equipment, medical offices and more. The project is a commitment from NCH to the community, to ensure people in and around Marco Island can get a variety of high-quality medical services in one convenient location, including diagnostics, treatments and preventive care. 

“The staff here is so excited to be going into a new building since the current one will celebrate its 40th anniversary soon,” says Kaitlen Magdalener, MSN, RN, the supervisor of the NCH Marco Island Urgent Care. “The engineers and project managers took our input when designing the new facility, so it will be the most useful to our patients and our team.” 

The current NCH urgent-care center will stay open until the new one is ready. Then, it will be converted into parking, and the existing two-story physician and outpatient rehabilitation building will be upgraded to offer more expansive specialty care that is locally needed and sought by our patients. 

Two Marco Island families can be thanked for boosting this $18 million project:  

Steve and Barbara Slaggie set up a $5 million grant-match campaign to garner support from additional donors. 

The Pat and Scot Kaufman Healthcare Center will be named after the local family that donated $4 million toward the new urgent-care facility. 

Since NCH is a nonprofit, we need the community’s assistance to raise the remaining funds through philanthropy. If you’d like to donate toward top-quality care, easily accessible on the island, please call 239-624-2000 or visit NCHmd.org/donate. 

“Mini-Hospital” Urgent-Care Center Still Available 

Some people may not realize the existing NCH Marco Island Urgent Care offers extensive services, described by one staffer as “like a mini-hospital.” It features imaging, lab draw stations, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, primary care, speech therapy, and physical therapy. The center is open seven days a week, 8:00 AM to 7:30 PM. 

The center also has pediatric services, including an infant scale and the ability for kids (needing to have a bone injury stabilized right away) to get their own splints made right there on-site. Patients of all ages who need full X-rays done by experienced techs can typically have them taken and read there that day without having to go “over the bridge” to Naples. Both radiology technicians at the NCH clinic have 20 or more years of experience.  

At the clinic, you can also get free blood pressure checks and multiple types of rehab assistance that make you feel like you’re at a gym with a trainer. Rotating specialists include help for lungs, heart, and even wisdom teeth. 

To find out more about the clinic, call (239) 624-8540 or visit the NCH website for all of its Marco Island facilities at https://locations.NCHmd.org/FL/Marco-Island/. 

New NCH Marco Island Representative & Volunteer Opportunities 

NCH recently welcomed a new Marco-focused representative, who has lived in Collier County for 40-plus years, including the last three on Isles of Capri. Patti Fowle is concentrating specifically on fundraising and engaging with the people of Marco Island and other local neighborhoods. 

“I have seen a lot of change in Collier County in recent years, and I want to provide a constant face of NCH for Marco Island and the surrounding communities, so you know we care,” says Fowle, who previously served as manager of guest relations for NCH. “I bring a history of NCH services, connections, and the ability to share with a wide span of Collier residents who may not have been fully aware of everything NCH has to offer them.” 

Fowle will help raise the funds needed to finish the new Marco Island urgent care center. She will also rebuild the Marco Island NCH volunteer program and help residents give back to their community as volunteers. Fowle is available for private donor meetings and speaking engagements with local charities and neighborhood groups. For more information, call (239) 624-2000 or visit philanthropy@nchmd.org. 

You can volunteer at the NCH clinic and help our community by applying at https://NCH.md.org/about-us/volunteer-services/. 

Local Leaders on NCH Committee 

NCH is also working hard to keep apprised of the evolving needs of Marco Island and surrounding areas. To do this, we have a Marco Island business and resident advisory committee made up of well-known local leaders who have lived here for a total of more than 50 years. They represent all demographics of the community and come together every two months to meet with NCH representatives and talk about how NCH can best serve our local patients. 

For example, Dianna Dohm, executive director of the Marco Island Chamber of Commerce, leads the group and says, “The members represent the heart and soul of Marco, having been here a long time. We help advise and direct NCH to get the right interaction with the residents of Marco Island, and to understand and fulfill their needs.” 

In addition, the group works to ensure local residents understand what services NCH offers on Marco Island and how we can further engage with the community. Recently, the group helped push for a new cardiologist to treat patients on Marco Island, and he immediately had nine new patients on his first day. 

Other members of the committee include the chief of the Marco Island Police Department, a vice president of investment at Raymond James, the newly retired chief operating officer of the EW Scripps Company, other established business leaders, a retired surgeon, and philanthropist Pat Kaufman, whose family has been instrumental in funding the new NCH urgent care center. 

NCH Community Engagement 

NCH sponsors several groups and events as a pillar of the Marco Island community. This season, we were the presenting sponsor of the Rhinestone Rodeo at the Island Country Club to benefit Our Daily Bread Food Pantry. We continue to have a monthly booth at the Marco Island Farmers Market, sponsored Christmas Island Style’s “Ho-Ho-Ho Raise Some Dough,” and manned a team table at the Marco Island Fire Rescue Foundation’s Chili Cook-off, where we had some fun with Santa.  

“NCH enjoys being a long-time partner with our Marco Island neighbors,” says Fowle. “We keep looking for opportunities to boost our community, and I had the best time at the recent chili cook-off to benefit our firefighters.” 

During a single day at the farmers market, Kaitlen Magdalener, supervisor of the NCH Marco Island Urgent Care, took more than 100 people’s blood pressure, and members of the rehab team conducted more than 50 balance assessments. We’re also sponsoring upcoming local events for the Marco Island Police Foundation, Marco Dementia Respite, American Cancer Society, YMCA of Collier County, Kiwanis Club, Marco Island Center for the Arts, and the Marco Island Area Chamber of Commerce/Leadership Marco Scholarship Fund. 

This fall, the NCH Marco Island urgent-care center hosted a group of Girl Scouts. The girls of Troop 093 of Southwest Florida practiced wrapping sprained ankles and made first-aid kits. They were treated to some NCH swag bags and water bottles they got to take home. 

If you’re looking for ways to connect with NCH, Fowle is helping to arrange further community involvement with local charities and neighborhood groups. For more information, call 239-624-2000 or email Patricia.Fowle@NCHmd.org.