Orlando Health plans to close the recently purchased Brevard County Hospital and eliminate more than 900 jobs after it said it was in poor condition.
The announcement is an unexpected move on Orlando Health’s expansion drive, and has a major impact that could be uncertain on the hospital market in the area, as it takes years to replace facilities.
The hospital system said it plans to build a new hospital in Brevard and work for 940 employees in Rockledge Hospital positions at other Orlando Health Facility. The hospital and four outpatient centres will be closed on April 22nd.
The 298-bed Rockledge Hospital was one of three hospital Orlando Health obtained from the Steward Healthcare System in October. Steward sold everything at Florida Hospital when he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May.
Orlando Health said in a statement that it knew Rockledge Hospital was suffering from “year-old neglect,” and that it “leaved the facility in such poor condition that it did not meet the system’s standards for the care environment for patients.”
After the hospital was able to be purchased and fully inspected, Orlando Health said it determined that the cost of renovating it would far exceed the cost of the new hospital and that the facility would need to be closed.
“We learned that facilities, such as electricity, HVAC, plumbing, and other facilities and their systems are failing through inspections by professional architects and engineers,” Orlando Health said at a news conference on its website. “It can take several years to build a new hospital within the area, which is longer than the experts who feel that Rockledge Hospital remains realistically open.”
Orlando Health did not provide a schedule of details about the construction of the new hospital or where the new hospital in Brevard County is located.
Orlando Health said it has created a transition team to help patients and employees affected by the closure.
The largest group of hospital employees is acute medical registered nurses, with 266 employees.
“We have over 3,000 positions across the Orlando Health System,” Orlando Health said in a statement. “All Rockledge Hospital team members are open to working in other Orlando Health locations and are guaranteed positions within the organization.”
Once the hospital is closed, Orlando Health plans to destroy the facility and sell the hospital’s land for redevelopment.
Orlando Health operates 24 hospitals and emergency departments in central Florida.
