![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/f4b3a0de-8a45-4f92-bb37-4fe7e876d475.jpeg\" "\\"Ben")
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Ben Spence, left, Lee Health\u2019s Chief Operating Officer was named the new president & CEO of Lee Health on Monday, June 8, 2026. He is taking over for current president & CEO, Dr. Larry Antonucci, right, who is retiring.<\/p>\n
Andrew West\/The News-Press & Nap<\/p>\n
USA TODAY Network, Reuters<\/p>\n
Dr. Larry Antonucci signs off as president and CEO of Lee Health at the end of September, leaving the hospital system far different from when he took the helm in 2017:<\/p>\n
Construction projects big and small are everywhere to keep pace with growth.<\/p>\n
There’s new mind-boggling technology.<\/p>\n
And he and others remember being hit by the stealth COVID-19 virus that upended everything in daily life. It dealt another blow to hospital workers.<\/p>\n
They worked in unimaginable conditions witnessing horrific losses of life and risking their own; some in the public pointed fingers of blame at the very people trying to heal the sick.<\/p>\n
If that wasn’t enough to drive Antonucci or other hospital CEOs to contemplate a run for the hills, there was little breathing room before he faced the next disaster of Hurricane Ian in late September 2022.<\/p>\n
Lee Health workers kept showing up and plugging away despite many facing prolonged recovery from damage to their homes and psyches.<\/p>\n
Through it all Antonucci, 72, steered the ship, that’s his job after all, with a calm disposition that’s also a job requirement, to keep the troops on task.<\/p>\n
Lee Health is the largest employer in Lee County with a workforce today of 17,000 and medical staff of 2,500.<\/p>\n
How had Lee Health grown and changed?<\/p>\n
Lee Health has total net operating revenue of $1.9 billion with a margin of 5.6%, according to financials for the period ending March 31. It is responsible for $5 billion annually in sales in the county.<\/p>\n
The system runs four acute care hospitals with a combined 1,865 beds, 135-bed Golisano Children’s Hospital, along with a long list of outpatient and diagnostic centers.<\/p>\n
Total adult and pediatric admissions projected for the year are just under 53,000; emergency room visits are projected at 144,000.<\/p>\n
At groundbreaking events in recent months, Antonucci says Lee Health is investing $1.7 billion over the next five years to meet growth in health care needs.<\/p>\n
When he became CEO in June 2017, the hospital system’s total net operating revenue was $1.7 billion and its operating margin was 4.2%.<\/p>\n
Despite all the changes and capital improvements Antonucci has ushered in, what has not faded from memory is his first day at Lee Memorial Hospital as a young obstetrician\/gynecologist.<\/p>\n
“I remember the day in 1983 when I walked into that campus for the very first tine and I met Sandra Wharton, who was the medical staff secretary, and Dr. Bob Arnold, who was the medical director,” Antonucci said. “Those were the first and second people I met and I recognized immediately it was a very special place.”<\/p>\n
Antonucci delivered babies for 24 years, many of them at Lee Memorial before deliveries moved to HealthPark Medical Center, roughly 10 miles south of Fort Myers. He delivered the first baby at Cape Coral Hospital.<\/p>\n
“Being an OB\/GYN was incredibly rewarding, there is nothing like being able to hand a baby to new parents,” he wrote in a 2023 column about his 40-year anniversary on Lee Health’s medical staff.<\/p>\n
“I have had women stop me in stores, restaurants and other places throughout our community to show me pictures of their children that I delivered. I had a woman stop me to tell me I saved her daughter’s life when she had an ectopic pregnancy,” he said.<\/p>\n
He co-founded Physicians Primary Care of Southwest Florida, and later accepted leadership roles, first at the Cape Coral hospital and later with the hospital system before becoming CEO.<\/p>\n
His thoughts on Lee Memorial’s future<\/p>\n
Lee Memorial off U.S. 41 near downtown Fort Myers, a once statuesque landmark may be past its prime but longtime residents want to know what’s to come of the place that has hosted births, deaths and everything in between for decades.<\/p>\n
Antonucci hints of what could happen when Lee Memorial closes in 2028 (he will be retired) once the $824 million Lee Health Fort Myers Hospital now being built off Colonial Boulevard is completed and opens.<\/p>\n
“I know the team is going to be working closely with the city of Fort Myers and the county to do something very special there,” he said. “It’s a very special place and I think something that will enhance that downtown community is what I’d love to see there and including health care services.”<\/p>\n
He adds: “I’d also love to see some residential, walkable community there and potentially some retail and just a vibrant part of that downtown community. That’s what I’d love to see there.”<\/p>\n
Grateful for the accolades<\/p>\n
Since announcing late last year that he would retire Sept. 30, there’s been a long list of recognitions.<\/p>\n
He was named citizen of the year by SWFLInc and presented with the Don Eslick Estero Person of the Year Award in 2025, along with proclamations from local government entities recognizing his leadership.<\/p>\n
Antonucci said: “It just really fills me with gratitude to know that you really did make a difference because, the bottom line, everybody wants to make a difference. Everyone wants to leave the place better than when they got there. And it’s really nice to see some validation of that.”<\/p>\n
David Miller, executive director of The Chamber of Southwest Florida, said the chamber and community are incredibly grateful for Antonucci’s many years of serving the region, starting as a practicing physician and later as Lee Health’s leader.<\/p>\n
“Under his leadership Southwest Florida is a better place for all of us,” Miller said. “We deeply appreciate his support of the chamber and its programs. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”<\/p>\n
Antonucci is not leaving Southwest Florida; he is chairman of the board of Florida Gulf Coast University and says he is looking forward to learning more about higher education.<\/p>\n
“I’m sure that other opportunities will come up,” he said, but added he doesn’t want to over commit.<\/p>\n
Paul Hiltz, president and CEO of Naples Comprehensive Health, NCH, in Collier County, said Antonucci has been a dedicated and influential health care leader whose impact extends beyond Lee Health.<\/p>\n
“During his tenure he guided his organization through periods of significant change, always with a clear commitment to patients and the communities of Southwest Florida,” Hiltz said. “On behalf of Naples Comprehensive Health, I thank Larry for his many years of service and for his friendship. I wish him all the best in his retirement.”<\/p>\n
Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, said Antonucci left an indelible mark on Florida’s healthcare delivery system. He has served on the association board since 2017 and chaired it from 2024 to 2025 and was past chair throughout 2026.<\/p>\n
“His strong leadership, caring manner and deep commitment to accessible, high-quality and patient-centered care stand out,” Mayhew said. “Dr. Antonucci’s 27 years as an OB\/GYN and 19 years as a health system executive at Lee Health brought valuable perspectives grounded in direct patient care and an understanding of the complexities of hospital operations. As president and CEO of Lee Health, Dr. Antonucci guided the health system through growth, the challenges of a worldwide pandemic, the unprecedented experience of Hurricane Ian, and a rapidly changing healthcare environment.”<\/p>\n
Lee Health announced in June that Ben Spence, a 31-year veteran of Lee Health and currently chief operating officer, will become the next president and CEO.<\/p>\n
\u2018Wow’ moment in the top post<\/p>\n
Lee Health took some body blows along the way.<\/p>\n
Hurricane Ian’s wrath Sept. 28, 2022 with 150 mph winds and storm surge up to 15 feet in low-lying coastal areas lead to $12 million in damage to Lee Health facilities.<\/p>\n
At HealthPark, top managers and employees watched from upper floor windows as storm surge flooded 700 cars in the parking lot. All told 10%, or 1,400 employees, of the 14,000-member Lee Health workforce at the time faced significant property damage.<\/p>\n
“We stood in the (hospital system) command center watching the Sanibel Bridge blowout and then watching our parking lot fill with water and cars just float away and yet seeing how our staff was there, working day and night, taking care of patients,” he said. “The feeling of leading that team, it just filled me with such pride and gratitude.”<\/p>\n
Lee Health covered auto insurance deductibles and provided other financial assistance to impacted employees. The employee relief fund through the Lee Health Foundation brought in $1.2 million.<\/p>\n
Shift to a nonprofit system<\/p>\n
In the 2023 Florida Legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill that enabled the publicly-run Lee Health to consider converting to a private, nonprofit system.<\/p>\n
Historically it has been a publicly-operated hospital system but not a taxing district.<\/p>\n
Antonucci spoke of uncertainties in the health care industry, the increasing presence of private equity investment and of a state regulation being eliminated in 2019 that allows for-profit hospitals to freely enter markets. Another drawback was being governed under the state’s Sunshine Law.<\/p>\n
He described the required steps involved with a conversion as a heavy lift.<\/p>\n
By November 2024, the Lee Health board had completed the conversion with the promise of maintaining its original safety-net mission of caring for all patients regardless of ability to pay.<\/p>\n
There was limited pushback from the public during the year-long process.<\/p>\n
“I was impressed with the public’s support,” Antonucci said. “We did a lot of town halls and went out and explained the rational and people seemed to understand it,” he said. “There were very few negative voices out there.”<\/p>\n
What’s coming in health care?<\/p>\n
One certainty is the health care industry continues to see big changes.<\/p>\n
“What we’re going to see is increased use in technology and I think as you look at the challenges in healthcare right now with access and affordability, those are two things that can be improved with technology. And the technology is not only going to be at the bedside. It’s going to be in the back office, it’s going to be all over the system,” he said.<\/p>\n
“On the clinical side, I think AI will be a very powerful tool to make providers more efficient,” he said. “We’re never going to replace nurses and doctors for what they do at the bedside and what they do in an operating room but AI tools can really help.”<\/p>\n
It also can improve efficiency and accuracy in timely diagnoses, he said. It already is used to do the work of scribes to document provider and patient interactions, which saves time and allows for better interaction.<\/p>\n
“That’s an incredible satisfier for patients and providers, but it also adds incredible efficiencies,” he said. “I think it’s things like that that is going to change how healthcare is provided, not to mention the incredible technologies we’re going to see on imaging and diagnostics and things like that. I think there’s going to be advances in robotics, I think there’s going to be advances in virtual providers.”<\/p>\n
How are relations with NCH?<\/p>\n
Lee Health and NCH have both embarked on upgrades to orthopedics but the duplication is not bad, he said.<\/p>\n
NCH opened in June 2025 a hospital in North Naples with New-York based Hospital for Special Surgery. Lee Health is building a new musculoskeletal institute next to Lee Health Fort Myers that is under construction.<\/p>\n
“When you look at things like that, there’s plenty of room for excellent programs in Lee County and Collier County, so I don’t really see a big issue there,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I think people in Collier County primarily would want to stay in Collier County and the people in Lee County would want to stay in Lee for their surgery so to have two excellent orthopedic programs, or two excellent cardiac programs, there’s nothing wrong with that.”<\/p>\n
He didn’t dismiss whether Lee Health would expand more into Collier or the potential of some sort of an alliance with NCH. The two systems have worked together on some “small projects” and continue to have discussions.<\/p>\n
“The table is always set to talk about ways that we can improve care for this entire Southwest Florida community,” he said.<\/p>\n
Liz Freeman is a health care reporter. Reach her by emailing lfreeman@naplesnews.com <\/p>\n
Please support local community journalism and stay informed about Southwest Florida news by subscribing to The News-Press and Naples Daily News; download the free News-Press or Naples Daily News app, and sign up for daily briefing email newsletter, food & dining and growth & development newsletters here and here. <\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Retiring Lee Health CEO Antonucci looks back on COVID, Ian, growth<\/p>\n
Reporting by Liz Freeman, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News \/ Fort Myers News-Press<\/p>\n
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 2:16 PM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Spence, left, Lee Health\u2019s Chief Operating Officer was named the new president & CEO of Lee Health…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-406929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}