Lee Community Healthcare marks a decade of impact

Lee Community Healthcare marks a decade of impact

Lee Health created Lee Community Healthcare in 2013 to ensure affordable healthcare for everyone in our community, especially the medically uninsured and economically distressed people in Southwest Florida. In 2014, Lee Community Healthcare was designated a federally qualified health center look-alike (FQHC-LA).

An FQHC-LA is a community healthcare provider that meets all the requirements of a federally qualified health center but does not receive grant funding under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act. FQHC-LAs provide comprehensive primary and preventive health services to underserved and vulnerable populations, including those who are medically uninsured and economically distressed. Lee Community Healthcare provides access to primary care, tests, immunizations, mental health, pediatrics, women’s care and more—regardless of one’s financial situation.

As Lee Community Healthcare celebrates 10 years of care, growth and progress, I wanted to take the opportunity to shine a light on the value and impact of this important team. I invite you to check out their 2023 Annual Report, which can be found at www.tinyurl.com/LCHAnnualReport, especially the table on page 3 that illustrates the incredible growth— from the number of service sites to number of visits, babies delivered, practice areas and more.

Larry Antonucci

Our community may not understand or recognize that Lee Community Healthcare is part of Lee Health. Here are some things to know about this very important part of our health system:

¦ Our FQHC-LA, Lee Community Healthcare, is unique in that we offer specialty care services beyond adult and pediatric primary care, including obstetrics/ gynecology, behavioral health and adult and pediatric neurology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, cardiology and more.

¦ Based on patient visits, patient volume and service sites, Lee Community Healthcare is the largest FQHC-LA in the nation.

¦ Lee Community Healthcare has its own Board of Directors, and more than half of the board members must be current Lee Community Healthcare patients, which enables an inclusive and equitable leadership model. The chairperson of the board, Alice Daniels, is a long-time patient.

¦ When establishing a Lee Community Healthcare site, there is a rigorous suitability analysis to determine where health equity resources are most needed, so that means not every Lee Physician group site can or will be a Lee Community Healthcare site based on this analysis.

¦ Lee Community Healthcare operates in an embedded model within Lee Health, which enables and facilitates the patient experience through the continuum of care.

As Lee Health’s president & CEO, I am very proud to recognize and congratulate the Lee Community Healthcare team as they celebrate 10 years as an FQHC-LA and the huge impact they have made and continue to make in Southwest Florida. ¦

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