Gulf Coast Medical Center

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Gulf Coast Medical Center is a 349 bed hospital located in Fort Myers, Florida.HistoryGulf Coast Medical Center was created through the merging of Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and Gulf Coast Hospital in March of 2009.Gulf Coast Hospital and Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center joined Lee Memorial Health Systems in 2006 before the merger.Gulf Coast Medical Center wraps around the former Gulf Coast Hospital and consists of 436,000 square feet of new construction and 20,000 square feet of renovation to the former facility. Construction required over 800 miles of electrical wire, 3,100 tons of steel and 5,500 tons of concrete.Patient care and servicesIn 2014, 39,071 patients visited the hospital's emergency room. The hospital had a total of 22,620 admissions in 2014 with 5,568 inpatient and 4,146 outpatient surgeries performed.The hospital has an open-heart surgery program, an orthopedic surgery program, and Southwest Florida's only Kidney Transplant Center, which has one of the shortest wait times in the nation for kidney transplants.On average, recipients wait less than two years for a kidney transplant. With a live donor, recipients do not have to wait and can even schedule the transplant, which is performed laparoscopically.Awards and recognitionIn August 2014, Gulf Coast Medical Center was designated a top-level provider of stroke treatments.Gulf Coast Medical Center is distinguished as a Gold Plus Stroke Center by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.In a 2014 Soliant Health user-generated poll, Gulf Coast Medical Center was chosen as the runner-up to be America's Most Beautiful Hospital.Gulf Coast Medical Center was ranked as one of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for pulmonary care for two years in a row, 2012-2013.