Fort Myers-based Lee Health System Inc. filed a lawsuit this week against Miami-based Nicklaus Children’s Hospital over a lease dispute for Golisano Children’s Health Center in North Naples.
The suit filed March 24 in Collier County, which also names Pine Ridge Livingston LLC as a defendant, states Nicklaus Children’s Hospital’s plans to evict Golisano Children’s Health Center from a location at 3361 Pine Ridge Road that Lee Health has operated for more than eight years.
Nicklaus Children’s was the original lease holder on the space when the two health systems started a collaboration in 2017, with Lee Health as a sublessee. That collaboration ended in 2019 and Lee Health has since then paid the entire lease on the 29,000-square foot space; the lease amount was not disclosed.
Lee Health seeks to prevent the eviction that would “potentially [force] closure of a facility that has served local families for many years,” according to a statement provided by Lee Health Media Relations Manager Jaclyn Bevis.
Golisano Children’s Health Center provides treatment in 20 pediatric specialties, including cardiology, oncology, neurology and pulmonology, as well as services for children with autism, rehabilitation therapies and an urgent care clinic the system said served more than 20,000 pediatric patients in 2024. The clinic saw 65,000 visits overall in 2023.
“The issue lies in Nicklaus’ refusal to recognize Lee Health’s lease after the health system transitioned to a private nonprofit [from a public nonprofit] last fall,” and that Nicklaus “informed Lee Health on March 11 that it must vacate the building by April 4, jeopardizing the health of thousands of children who could be left without vital services — often life-saving services,” the statement from Bevis said.
Language in the Lee Health lawsuit claims the system invested approximately $5.4 million in tenant improvements to Golisano Children’s Health Center of Naples and “has operated the facility at a significant loss for years due to its importance to the community and in furtherance of LHS’ charitable mission. Approximately $6.3 million of philanthropic support has been provided to Golisano Children’s Health Center of Naples to help support and improve its operations to ensure that this facility will continue to serve the health needs of the children of Collier County.”
Michael Nachef
Lee Health Chief of Staff Michael Nachef said the system has “met all standards of delivering exceptional care to the children of Collier County in that space” and the goal of the lawsuit is to prevent the clinic from closing on April 4.
“We have no intention of closing the resource [clinic] and we are going to ensure that it is understood for all of the people receiving care that we are holding strong,” Nachef said. “We’re asserting the assignment of the lease to us is valid, and we are going to continue providing care at that location. We have just absolute certainty that we are going to proceed with defending the location and the delivery of care.”
Dr. Emad Salman, vice president and physician executive of Golisano Children’s Services at LHS, echoed Nachef’s determination to keep the clinic open.
Salman said the majority of the clinic’s patients are children from Naples, Immokalee and Everglades City. The location makes it possible to “ease the burden” on families of having to travel further for care, he said.
“We have no intention of closing this center because we do not believe that it is the right thing to do for the children of Collier County,” Salman said. “If for any reason it closes, I think it will be devastating to the families. It will put an increased burden on their lives.
Dr. Emad Salman
“And we will fight this because we believe it’s the right thing to do, and we will not make the children of Collier County suffer. … Children should never be pawns in a chess game being played by grownups.”
Nicklaus Children’s Health System said in a statement it intends to use the Pine Ridge Road location for itself and informed Lee Health of that intention last fall.
“We informed Lee Health nearly six months ago that we intended to end the lease and utilize the space ourselves,” Kevin Snyder, Nicklaus vice president and chief marketing, communications and brand officer, said in a statement.
“Since our initial outreach in October 2024, we’ve made multiple attempts to engage Lee Health in collaborative conversations to ensure a smooth and respectful transition, including as recently as last week.”
Nicklaus Children’s statement did not address a question specifically asking whether the lease termination was related to Lee Health’s conversion to a private nonprofit business model.
Snyder’s statement said that as a nonprofit health system Nicklaus Children’s is “committed to supporting the health care needs of all children” and is “disappointed Lee Health has chosen to take unnecessary legal action against our organization despite our attempts to work amicably on the lease transition.”
The statement said Lee Health “has not responded to us and our efforts to provide them sufficient time to find alternate office space and to ensure that there was no interruption of care for their patients. To our surprise, earlier this week, we learned of their intent to pursue legal action against Nicklaus Children’s.
“We remain committed to working with Lee Health to find a positive path forward. However, progress can only be made through dialogue and cooperation.”
Nicklaus Children’s has another connection in Collier County through its collaboration with Naples Comprehensive Health since 2022 in providing inpatient services for the neonatal intensive care unit at the North Naples Hospital campus.
