PUNTA GORDA — Punta Gorda has lost its hospital, for good maybe.
“After months of assessment and review, the catastrophic damage to the ShorePoint Health Punta hospital has been found to be beyond repair and the hospital will not reopen,” ShorePoint Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte Marketing Director John Wright stated in an email Thursday.
The facility was struck hard by storms in September and October.
“The ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda hospital and emergency room temporarily suspended operations in advance of Hurricanes Helene and Milton but the subsequent impact of storm surge and flooding disrupted the resumption of services,” the email stated.
Paperwork for the closing sets it to be officially nonexistent before March.
“Work to decommission the hospital has begun and the hospital license will be conveyed to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) on Feb. 28, 2025,” Wright stated in the email.The news has to be numbing for people seeking health care in Charlotte County — especially Punta Gorda.The 208-bed hospital was one of three hospitals in Charlotte County. The only other close hospitals are HCA Florida Englewood Hospital and Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice.Wright said most staff from ShorePoint Punta Gorda has already transitioned to positions at Port Charlotte ShorePoint.As for the future of the damaged structure, there are no answers right now.”There are many moving parts,” Wright said.The sale of both ShorePoint Punta Gorda and ShorePoint Port Charlotte was announced recently. AdventHealth has signed a “definitive agreement” to buy both hospitals, including certain assets of ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda, affiliates of Community Health Systems.The sale will include related businesses, including physician clinic operations, outpatient services and ShorePoint Health Emergency Department in Cape Coral, according to a joint media statement released by AdventHealth.