How Lee Memorial Hospital Helped Shape the Growth of Fort Myers
Fort Myers Rising
Fort Myers Rising
Most people have no idea that Fort Myers built its very first hospital using reclaimed wood from an old courthouse. At the time, Fort Myers was still a small river town with only around 2,500 residents. Cape Coral did not exist yet. Neither did Lehigh Acres.
But even in those early years, the community understood something important. Growth only mattered if people could take care of one another.
On October 3, 1916, Lee County’s first hospital officially opened its doors. It was modest by today’s standards, just four rooms, limited equipment, and a small staff, but it marked a turning point for Southwest Florida. For the first time, residents had access to a dedicated healthcare facility in their own community.
That same year, Dr. Daniel McSwain traveled from Arcadia to perform the hospital’s very first surgery on a patient who had arrived by horse from LaBelle.
Moments like that remind us just how different life looked in early Fort Myers.
By 1920, the hospital welcomed its first baby as Fort Myers grew to just over 3,600 residents. At the time, Florida’s medical standards were still evolving. Doctors were not even required to hold a medical license until 1921. Healthcare looked very different from what we know today, especially in smaller communities across Southwest Florida.
Originally known as Lee County Hospital, the facility would later become Robert E. Lee Memorial Hospital, eventually evolving into what most residents now simply know as Lee Health.
What truly shaped the hospital was not just the building itself, but the people behind it. Residents organized fundraisers, donated money, and helped create a healthcare system from the ground up. Community leaders and local families understood that a growing town needed reliable medical care to support future generations.
Support came from well-known local names including Walter Langford, Edwin Richard, Charles Stadler, Connie Mack Jr., Flossie Hill, Mrs. Eric Jewett, George Cox, and many others who believed Fort Myers deserved a hospital of its own.
This spirit of community involvement became part of the hospital’s foundation and remains part of Lee Health’s identity today.
The early staff worked under conditions that would be difficult to imagine today. Theo Ellis, the hospital’s first operating room nurse, made bandages by hand, worked 55-hour weeks, earned only $44, and remained on staff for 47 years.
Doctors like Dr. William Winkler delivered babies and treated patients without air conditioning or even basic plumbing.
These were people building healthcare infrastructure in real time while Southwest Florida itself was still developing around them.
For 27 years, the original hospital expanded through major historical moments including the Great Depression and World War II.
Then in 1943, a new hospital opened along U.S. 41. Theo Ellis later nicknamed it the “brick-a-day hospital” because construction moved so slowly, but it represented major progress for the region.
By 1968, the modern Lee Memorial Hospital officially opened as a $5.5 million project featuring 400 beds and 650 employees.
What started as a four-room wooden structure had become one of the most significant healthcare systems in Southwest Florida.
In 2016, during its 100th anniversary, Lee Memorial Health System officially became Lee Health, reflecting a more connected and regional approach to healthcare.
Today, another major chapter is already underway. The new Lee Health Fort Myers campus is currently more than 60% complete and expected to open by 2028. Built across 53 acres, the campus is designed to be hurricane-resilient, technologically advanced, and prepared for future growth across Southwest Florida.
The expansion represents more than new buildings. It reflects the region’s increasing population, evolving infrastructure, and continued investment in long-term community care.
More rooms. More access. More technology. More support for the people who call this area home.
Healthcare infrastructure has always played a major role in shaping a region’s future.
As Fort Myers real estate, Southwest Florida homes for sale, new construction communities, and waterfront developments continue expanding, access to reliable healthcare becomes increasingly important for residents, families, retirees, and investors alike.
Projects like the new Lee Health campus support not only population growth, but also quality of life across the region.
It is another reminder that Southwest Florida’s evolution has never only been about development. It has always been about building a stronger community.
The story of Lee Health mirrors the story of Fort Myers itself. What began as a small wooden hospital built from reclaimed materials has grown into a major healthcare network serving communities across Southwest Florida.
And just like the city around it, Lee Health continues to adapt, expand, and prepare for what comes next.
To learn more about the incredible history behind Lee Memorial Hospital and the future of the new Lee Health campus, watch the full Fort Myers Rising video where I walk through the story and timeline in more detail.
If you want more local history, community updates, development news, and real estate insights across Southwest Florida, you can join my Insiders List here.
And for those who grew up in Fort Myers, there’s a good chance Lee Memorial was part of your family’s story too.
So what about you? Were you, your children, or someone in your family born at Lee Memorial Hospital?