Leaders discuss possibility of shutting down Caloosahatchee BridgeFGCU softball parents cherish NCAA Tournament experience
FORT MYERS Leaders discuss possibility of shutting down Caloosahatchee Bridge Should residents endure two years of partial lane closures, or fully shut the Caloosahatchee bridge down for 10 weeks?
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball parents cherish NCAA Tournament experience The parents of the FGCU softball team are relishing seeing their daughters play in the NCAA Tournament.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA The Weather Authority: Hot, hot, hot Heat advisory in place for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers teen finds dead body in bed of his truck A 16-year-old in Fort Myers drove to school, drove home, drove to the barbershop and back home again. Then, he noticed a swarm of flies in the back of his truck.
Scottie Scheffler facing felony charges; local attorney reacts The attorney we spoke with told us that, at a minimum, we’d spend the night in jail before having our first appearance and getting bail.
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball falls to No. 4 Florida in NCAA Tournament The FGCU softball team couldn’t keep up with the No. 4 Florida Gators as the Eagles drop their first Regional game 6-0 to the Gators.
Summer Safety: Swim safety tips to know before the summer The pool is warming up to be the hot spot for kids and families this summer. It’s now also the number one leading cause of drowning deaths for children ages 1-4 in the state.
FORT MYERS BEACH ‘The Whale’ restaurant to break ground on new building The Whale is a place that has shown great strength and determination.
COLLIER COUNTY Endangered Florida panther deaths surpass 2023 total in 5 months It’s taken wildlife officials just over four and a half months to report finding more dead endangered Florida panthers than in all of 2023.
FORT MYERS FMPD honors 7 officers and 2 K-9s who died in the line of duty dating back to 1930 Nine lives were given, and all nine will remain remembered. A lifetime of gratitude for the fallen officers.
Firefighter recovering from heat exhaustion after battling flames in Collier County It happened at Progress Rail, a transit corporation on Mercantile Avenue just before 5am on Friday.
FORT MYERS How do SWFL graduation rates compare to the state average? How do graduation rates for Charlotte, Lee and Collier Counties stack up against the state? WINK News crunched the numbers.
FORT MYERS Community divisive over ‘justified’ officer-involved shooting of Christopher Jordan A detective who killed an unarmed black man in a controversial shooting will be back at work on Monday.
CAPE CORAL Family submits civil complaint against Cape Coral Police Department The family of a 13-year-old boy who was struck and killed while riding his scooter has officially filed a civil complaint.
FORT MYERS Community reacts to ‘justified’ officer-involved shooting of Christopher Jordan Leaders with the NAACP are saying there is a divide between the black community and Fort Myers police.
FORT MYERS Leaders discuss possibility of shutting down Caloosahatchee Bridge Should residents endure two years of partial lane closures, or fully shut the Caloosahatchee bridge down for 10 weeks?
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball parents cherish NCAA Tournament experience The parents of the FGCU softball team are relishing seeing their daughters play in the NCAA Tournament.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA The Weather Authority: Hot, hot, hot Heat advisory in place for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers teen finds dead body in bed of his truck A 16-year-old in Fort Myers drove to school, drove home, drove to the barbershop and back home again. Then, he noticed a swarm of flies in the back of his truck.
Scottie Scheffler facing felony charges; local attorney reacts The attorney we spoke with told us that, at a minimum, we’d spend the night in jail before having our first appearance and getting bail.
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball falls to No. 4 Florida in NCAA Tournament The FGCU softball team couldn’t keep up with the No. 4 Florida Gators as the Eagles drop their first Regional game 6-0 to the Gators.
Summer Safety: Swim safety tips to know before the summer The pool is warming up to be the hot spot for kids and families this summer. It’s now also the number one leading cause of drowning deaths for children ages 1-4 in the state.
FORT MYERS BEACH ‘The Whale’ restaurant to break ground on new building The Whale is a place that has shown great strength and determination.
COLLIER COUNTY Endangered Florida panther deaths surpass 2023 total in 5 months It’s taken wildlife officials just over four and a half months to report finding more dead endangered Florida panthers than in all of 2023.
FORT MYERS FMPD honors 7 officers and 2 K-9s who died in the line of duty dating back to 1930 Nine lives were given, and all nine will remain remembered. A lifetime of gratitude for the fallen officers.
Firefighter recovering from heat exhaustion after battling flames in Collier County It happened at Progress Rail, a transit corporation on Mercantile Avenue just before 5am on Friday.
FORT MYERS How do SWFL graduation rates compare to the state average? How do graduation rates for Charlotte, Lee and Collier Counties stack up against the state? WINK News crunched the numbers.
FORT MYERS Community divisive over ‘justified’ officer-involved shooting of Christopher Jordan A detective who killed an unarmed black man in a controversial shooting will be back at work on Monday.
CAPE CORAL Family submits civil complaint against Cape Coral Police Department The family of a 13-year-old boy who was struck and killed while riding his scooter has officially filed a civil complaint.
FORT MYERS Community reacts to ‘justified’ officer-involved shooting of Christopher Jordan Leaders with the NAACP are saying there is a divide between the black community and Fort Myers police.
Gulf Coast Medical Center Dozens of new beds are being made available at Gulf Coast Medical Center to treat patients with the coronavirus. The hospital fast-tracked its construction project to help during the pandemic, so on Thursday, three new floors – 250 beds – will open to treat COVID-19 patients, and in the future, doctors will treat cancer on those floors. Ericka Lopez’s daughter Breana is fighting leukemia, and she said it isn’t easy to explain to children that the highly-contagious COVID-19 is a grave threat to people with serious illnesses. “Is it fair for Breana whose immune system … who may never have the opportunity like a normal child to go outside and see the blue skies, the green grass and know what it is to feel the sun and the heat, maybe not. Maybe now people can understand, this is a serious thing,” Lopez said. But now, the Lopez family is using this scary time to ask others to remember families like theirs, because they still have to go back and forth to the hospital for treatment. “In the short term, however, we’ll use this floor as a cohort floor for patients that end up with coronavirus or are suspected of having coronavirus,” said Dr. Jon Velez, vice president of operations and chief physician executive of Gulf Coast Medical Center. Gulf Coast Medical Center’s expansion project means more room for all patients, using the space for confirmed positive cases and patients considered under investigation. “You don’t know who your next-door neighbor is, and you don’t know what their immune system is…. just be considerate of your next-door neighbors,” Lopez said. The expansion project was already in progress just to meet Southwest Florida’s needs since we’re outgrowing hospitals, but they sped up the process about two months early to help get our community through this time. A message from Lee Health President & CEO, Larry Antonucci, M.D., MBA: “Though our sophisticated predictive analytics model helps us map out scenarios to help us prepare for the increase in patient volumes we will see, no crystal ball is going to tell us definitively how many persons under investigation (PUI) or COVID-19-positive patients we will treat. Because we are Southwest Florida’s major destination for health care, and it is our responsibility and privilege to care for our community, we have been working diligently to ensure we have beds, capacity and equipment to meet the needs. In addition to researching alternate care sites outside of our facilities, we also have expedited the opening of the expansion at Gulf Coast Medical Center. On April 2, two months ahead of schedule, we are officially opening the 216 beds on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors. The plan is to use these units to cohort PUI and COVID-19 patients. By opening these three new floors, we are adding 18 negative pressure rooms, which are critical to providing care to our patients. With the opening of the expansion, Gulf Coast Medical Center will have 250 beds for PUI and COVID-19 patients, 224 beds for non-COVID-19 medical care, and 76 ICU and ICU overflow beds. Expediting the opening of the hospital was made possible thanks to the amazing work of people across Lee Health and the community, including our contractors, equipment providers, supply chain, information technology, facilities planning, ancillary services and many others. The onus is on us to care for our community and it is a sacred responsibility. We are proud to be #LeeHealthStrong and we are ready to do all we can to care for our community. We’d like to thank all the teams that made this opening possible, but especially the people that have stepped up to lead and staff the various units. In times of challenge like today, we see who the true healthcare heroes are. Your bravery and exceptional professionalism is appreciated and valued.”