Florida Hospital in poor condition after “years of neglect” to be closed

Orlando Health plans to close a recently bought Brevard County Hospital and to remove more than 900 jobs because the facility is in poor condition and an upgrade is not inexpensive.

The announcement is an unexpected step in Orlando Health's expansion drive with an uncertain, but probably significant influence on the region's hospital market, as it will take years for the facility to be replaced.

The hospital system announced that it offers the construction of a new hospital in Brevard and the 940 employees who are now working on positions of Rockledge Hospital in other health facilities in Orlando. The hospital and four outpatient centers will close April 22nd.

The Rockledge Hospital with 298 beds was one of three hospitals Orlando Health, which was acquired from the Steward Health Care System in October. Steward offered all Florida hospitals for sale last May in the bankruptcy application for chapter 11.

In an explanation, Orlando Health said that the Rock Ledge Hospital had suffered from “Neglect” that “left the facility in such poor condition that it did not meet the standards of the system for patient care”.

After buying the hospital and was able to inspect it completely, Orlando Health found that the costs for the renovation would far from exceed the costs of a new hospital and that the facility should be closed.

“By inspections by professional architects and engineers, we learned that the facility and their systems – such as electrical, HLK and sanitary – fail,” said Orlando Health in a press -faq on his website. “The construction of a new hospital in the region can take several years, which is longer than our experts believe that the Rockledge Hospital can remain realistically open.”

Orlando Health does not offer a schedule for the construction of a new hospital or details about where a new hospital is built in Brevard County.

Orlando Health said that a transition team had created to help patients and employees who are affected by the closure.

The largest group of employees in the hospital are acute care nurses who make up 266 employees.

“There are over 3,000 positions in the entire health system in Orlando,” said Orlando Health in a statement. “All members of the Rock Ledge Hospital team in good reason and open to jobs at other locations in the healthcare system in Orlando are guaranteed positions within the organization.”

As soon as the hospital closes, Orlando Health plans to tear down the facility and sell the hospital country for renovation.

Orlando Health leads 24 hospitals and emergency departments in central florida.