The following is a letter to the editor that I submitted to the Naples Daily News on Sunday, January 25.

I read with interest Sunday’s Guest Commentary, “Building economy that won’t rely on population growth”, by Tammie Nemecek.  While I applaud the efforts of the Economic Development Council and the 37 community groups and organizations, I wonder if enough attention is being given to the medical industry in our county.  As I perused the list of Project Innovation endorsers provided in the commentary, I was struck by the fact that our local hospitals and other medical providers were not listed.

I am concerned that we may be attempting to create some new industries from scratch in Collier County that already exist in many other communities throughout the United States and the world such as computer software, communications, etc., while there exists a real need for top-notch medical services and technology in our area.  We are blessed with a large population of retirees who live here either year-round or part of the year, but the medical infrastructure to support those individuals seems only to exist elsewhere.  I have one friend who recently had a brain implant to help control his Parkinson’s disease, performed at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.  I have another friend who had a heart valve replacement, performed at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland.  One of our major hospitals in Naples offers only a limited cardiac care program and is not licensed to perform open-heart surgery.  This facility also out-sources some of its routine laboratory work to facilities in other parts of the state rather than doing all of it locally.  It is indicative of our failure to aggressively support the establishment of a world-class facility that the Cleveland Clinic threw in the towel and pulled out of our area a couple of years ago.  The current migration of family practitioners in Collier County to “concierge” service also reflects our inability to attract and retain primary care physicians and further limits access to exceptional health care for many individuals.

I grew up in small town in Minnesota that was 40 miles from Rochester, Minnesota, home to the Mayo Clinic.  We often referred to that clinic as “the mecca”, as it attracted patients from all over the world.  By contrast, I have heard the joke as to where to go around here to get the best medical care.  Answer: Southwest Regional Airport.

We are blessed with possibly the best climate in which to undergo medical treatment and subsequent rehabilitation.  We also have potentially the optimum clientele who are in need of such services.  Rather than attempt to compete in some of the industries where world-wide competition already exists and where Collier County may not bring any new natural resources to the table, I believe we should be looking to put our best foot forward in this vital sector where we can truly leverage our local strengths and needs.