LeeSar breaks ground on new service center

LeeSar breaks ground on new service center

Artist rendering of the new LeeSar Regional Service Center COURTESY ART

Regional health care executives, along with local government and community officials, broke ground on the new LeeSar Regional Service Center at 2727 Winkler Ave. in Fort Myers last week. The 23-acre site will hold the new 205,000-square-foot regional service center in Fort Myers in what is being billed as an innovative move that will revolutionize the way health care is delivered across Southwest Florida and the state. One of the only health care supply chain companies in the country to focus on regional service and delivery of supplies directly to health care organizations, LeeSar will manage and house operational functions in its new facility. “Rather than move mission-critical health care operations out of state as most health providers around the country are forced to do, LeeSar enables hospitals to keep these functions within the community and under one roof,” says John Wiest, chief operating officer for business and strategic services, Lee Memorial Health System and one of several visionaries behind the Lee- Sar project. “Not only does this mean that hospitals will save money and time, but it can lead to improvements in patient care delivery. It’s an efficient and expert solution. The benefits are farreaching for all involved.”

Bob Simpson speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony COURTESY PHOTO

The new facility will become LeeSar’s base of operations, where the company will continue to provide specialized surgical instrument repair, acquire and distribute medical supplies, package pharmaceuticals, supply custom surgical packs using a patented sterilization method, and manage food preparation services. The facility will also house centralized purchasing; contract management and negotiations; and administration offices.

“At a time when health care leaders must do more with less without compromising quality of care, innovation is the key,” says Robert Simpson, president and CEO of LeeSar. “We are constantly exploring ways to provide value to health care operations. Our new facility allows us to expand supply chain and other non-care services so that hospitals can reduce inventory and operating costs while realizing increased efficiencies and convenience.”

The new facility will house all of Lee- Sar’s current services, as well as sterile processing and cook and chill services for Lee Memorial Health System.

“Moving these services out of the hospital and into LeeSar opens up additional space for patient care,” says Jim Nathan, president of Lee Memorial Health System. “This exemplifies the mission of LeeSar — to provide cost-effective, high quality health care supply chain services so that hospitals can focus on what we do best — the delivery of patient care.”

The facility will function 24 hours a day, seven days a week to service hospitals and healthcare organizations and providers throughout Southwest Florida including Lee Memorial Health System, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, Central Florida Health Alliance in Leesburg, Fla. and Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, Ala. LeeSar is expected to bring approximately 150 new jobs to Lee County.

“LeeSar is a growing firm with cutting edge technology moving into a new state-of-the-art facility. We are proud they chose Lee County. We applaud their vision and the drive that has made them a recognized leader in the field of healthcare supply and support services,” says Jim Moore, director, Fort Myers Regional Partnership, Lee County’s Economic Development Office.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 30 to 60 days, and the facility is expected to be complete one year after the start of construction.