The development of the new Lee Health Fort Myers campus brings an exciting opportunity to rename Challenger Boulevard to align the street name with the values, history, and vision of our community. We invite the community to submit nominations for the renaming, as your involvement in this process is important to us. Submit your nomination here!

Lee Health Brings More Physicians to Southwest Florida

From Dr. Maja Delibasic, Program Director of the Florida State University College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program at Lee Health Cape Coral & Dr. Alfred Gitu, Program Director of the Florida State University College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program at Lee Health

Twenty new resident physicians will soon begin their training at Lee Health through The Florida State University College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program and The Florida State University College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program.

Of the 20 residents, twelve are internal medicine residents and eight are family medicine residents.

This marks the inaugural class for the internal medicine residency program, which is based at Cape Coral Hospital and accepts 12 new doctors each year for a three-year residency. We are very excited to welcome this first class of internal medicine residents to Lee Health and Cape Coral Hospital.

This group comes to Southwest Florida from all around the globe, representing eight different home countries. We are looking forward to them bringing their unique perspectives to our area as they continue their medical training.

The family medicine residency program, based at Lee Memorial Hospital accepts eight new doctors each year and is also a three-year residency.

Our family medicine residency program continues to have strong interest from graduating medical students around the world. The majority of our residents have stayed here in Southwest Florida following their training to continue to serve patients in our community.

Medical school graduates are required to complete residency training in their specialty of choice to become independently practicing physicians. These new resident physicians were selected after a rigorous vetting and interview process of the more than 3,100 applications received from U.S. medical students and physicians from around the world. The first-year residents were announced at the recent annual Match Day celebration.

Lee Health launched the family medicine residency program in 2012 to address the shortage of primary care physicians in Southwest Florida. Of the 40 Lee Health program graduates, 21 have chosen to remain in Southwest Florida to practice.

We look forward to welcoming our newest class of exceptional residents to both programs when they arrive this summer.