FORT MYERS, FL — Skanska USA announces it has achieved a major construction milestone with the topping out on Lee Health’s forthcoming hospital and medical office building in Fort Myers, Florida. As southwest Florida experiences unprecedented population growth, the new Lee Health Fort Myers campus will expand access to advanced medical services across Lee County. Phase One of the hospital and medical office building includes 18 operating rooms, 168 patient rooms including 24 ICU beds, and 44 emergency department beds, strengthening the region’s capacity to deliver care and meet the health care needs of its growing community. The facility is scheduled to open in 2028.
“The topping out of Phase 1 at our Fort Myers campus marks a significant moment in bringing this vision to life,” said Larry Antonucci, M.D., President and CEO of Lee Health. “Each beam placed represents our commitment to building a stronger future for health care in southwest Florida that expands access, supports our care teams, and ensures patients receive exceptional care for generations to come.”
Designed by Flad Architects, the 52-acre Lee Health Fort Myers campus will consist of a five-story hospital encompassing approximately 400,000 square feet of health care and office space. It will also include a central energy plant designed to ensure efficient and uninterrupted power supply to meet the demands of advanced medical equipment and round-the-clock patient care. Additionally, the complex will include a 122,000-square-foot medical office building housing an ambulatory surgery center with the latest surgical technologies and serving as the home of the Lee Health Musculoskeletal Institute.
To date, the Fort Myers hospital project has reached several significant construction milestones. Skanska and its 56 trade partners have worked over 720,000 hours and poured more than 33,000 cubic yards of concrete, with approximately 700 workers on site each day. The project also features the installation of over 12 miles equivalent to 64,510 feet of medical gas piping.
“Reaching this milestone underscores the extraordinary teamwork and dedication of the many local, small businesses who are helping to bolster the local economy as we drive this innovative health care project forward,” said Bob Kramer, Vice President and Account Manager for Skanska's Florida building operations. “We’re proud to be Lee Health’s trusted partner on this journey to raise the bar on exceptional patient care in the heart of southwest Florida.
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The project incorporates a comprehensive set of resiliency and sustainability measures essential to maintaining continuous health care operations in Florida’s challenging climate. Among them, an emergency makeup water well — a first of its kind for a Lee Health facility — will keep air conditioning systems functional even during municipal water disruptions. Additional features include redundant power systems, dual-fuel generators, and a reinforced building envelope engineered to withstand winds up to 150 miles per hour, ensuring the hospital remains operational during severe weather events. To further enhance long-term preparedness, the site itself has been elevated beyond 100-year flood projections, with an extra foot added to strengthen protection and safeguard uninterrupted patient care.
