Cape Coral Hospital to launch new OBGYN residency program
A new residency program will be instituted at Cape Coral Hospital next summer.
Lee Health, in collaboration with the Florida State University College of Medicine, recently announced the launch of a brand-new obstetrics and gynecology residency program at Cape Coral Hospital.
Lee Health officials said the program will welcome six new residents each year for an “intensive” four-year training experience, with the first residents joining Lee Health in Summer 2026. Currently, senior medical students are applying to the program. In March 2026, the annual Match Day event will reveal which six residents will call Southwest Florida home.
“We are thrilled to grow and expand our residency program to include OBGYN medicine,” said Chief Physician Executive of the Women’s Health Institute Dr. Cherrie Morris. “This will help increase our services and provide more access to care for the Southwest Florida community. As we see our population rapidly continue to grow, we want to ensure all patients receive the high-quality care they’ve come to expect from Lee Health, and training the future doctors in our community is an important part of that mission.”
OBGYN physicians specialize in comprehensive care for women, guiding them through pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery. Officials said residents will also receive a full scope of training focused on gynecological surgery and managing the full spectrum of reproductive health needs throughout a woman’s life.
The program aims to address a national shortage of OBGYN physicians while strengthening care in the expanding Southwest Florida region. Cape Coral Hospital will serve as the home base, with FSU College of Medicine as the official institutional sponsor.
“I am thrilled to lead this new program at Lee Health and empower the next generation of OBGYN physicians,” said Dr. Carrie Johnson, program director physician of OBGYN Residency. “Lee Health already has a compassionate and dedicated team for women’s and children’s services, and the residency program will expand on their already fantastic work. Not only will this program help address the national physician shortage, but it will also introduce new physicians and community members to Southwest Florida.”
Lee Health officials said medical school graduates are required to complete residency training in their chosen specialty to become independent practicing physicians. Officials added that training programs like this bring new doctors to the community, learning from the experience of Lee Health medical team members while also improving access to care to everyone in the community.
Lee Health’s most recent data from its family medicine and internal medicine residency programs shows that half of the graduates stay local after completing their residency.
This is the third physician residency program with Lee Health and the Florida State University College of Medicine. The family medicine residency program was established in 2011, and the internal medicine residency program in 2022.
“Our continued partnership with Lee Health is essential in our efforts to build high quality residency programs that promote academic excellence, drive enhanced quality of care and address the critical physician workforce needs of our Florida communities,” said William C. Boyer, DHSc, associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and the Designated Institutional Official for all sponsored GME programs at the College of Medicine.
To learn more, please visit leehealth.org and med.fsu.edu.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com