January 10, 2022 – Southwest Florida community members will have additional access to care in Cape Coral.
On Tuesday, Jan. 11, a new Lee Health internal medicine residency clinic, located at 1138 Country Club Boulevard, will be opening as part of the recently announced Florida State University College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program at Cape Coral Hospital/Lee Health.
The program received initial accreditation in September and approval to begin recruiting its first class of residents, who are expected to begin training on July 1. The residency program, which takes three years to complete, is approved to accept 12 residents a year for a total of 36 at full capacity.
“Through this new residency program and clinic, Lee Health is developing well-educated, highly trained physicians, creating greater accessibility to needed care in the community,” said Dr. Maja Delibasic, program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Lee Health/Cape Coral and associate professor of Clinical Sciences at Florida State University College of Medicine.
“Our hope is that the majority of the residents we train stay here in Southwest Florida once they complete their residency.”
While the residency program will be based at Cape Coral Hospital, it will offer opportunities for residents to also train and see patients at the new Cape Coral Internal Medicine Residency Clinic with oversight from several faculty physicians who will begin practicing at the clinic once it opens.
The new clinic – formerly a bank – underwent extensive renovations before opening to the public. It has ten exam rooms, a room for small outpatient procedures, and a designated room for vaccine administration and blood work. Plans are being made for the clinic to have a psychologist and social worker in the future.
The location of the clinic was chosen due to its close proximity to Cape Coral Hospital, allowing residents to easily travel back and forth. Also, it’s in an area that doesn’t currently
have a lot of physician offices, which creates greater access to care in the community.
The residency program is currently in the recruitment process, receiving nearly 1,700 applications to date, including more than 1,000 in the first 24 hours. Match Day will take place on March 18. That’s the day when the National Resident Matching Program notifies graduating medical students across the U.S. and Canada which residency program they have been accepted into.
“We are extremely grateful for the support we have received from the Gunterberg Foundation and Physicians’ Primary Care. Their philanthropic support will help make this program one of the most desirable Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs in the country,” said Dr. Delibasic.
FSU College of Medicine is also the academic sponsor of a family medicine residency program at Lee Memorial Hospital, a Global Health Fellowship program, and a postdoctoral psychology fellowship training program. This will be the fourth academic teaching program Lee Health offers in partnership with the Florida State University College of Medicine.
About Lee Health
Since the opening of the first hospital in 1916, Lee Health has been a health care leader in Southwest Florida, constantly evolving to meet the needs of the community. A non-profit, integrated health care services organization, Lee Health is committed to the well-being of every individual served, focused on healthy living and maintaining good health. Staffed by caring people, inspiring health, services are conveniently located throughout the community in four acute care hospitals, two specialty hospitals, outpatient centers, walk-in medical centers, primary care and specialty physician practices and other services across the continuum of care. Learn more at www.LeeHealth.org.
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