After surviving a bankruptcy saga, a Florida hospital will be shut down and demolished by its new owner.
Orlando Health, a Central Florida hospital network, spent millions last year to buy three Florida Space Coast hospitals owned by Steward Health Care System. Steward, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May, put all of its hospitals in Florida and elsewhere up for sale to thin debt.
Steward’s five South Florida hospitals were handed over to other operators.
Besides helping Steward make money to pay off debt, the sales were meant to keep hospitals open.
Now, just months later, Orlando Health says it has decided to close Rockledge Hospital in Brevard County and its four outpatient centers by April 22 after determining Rockledge was too costly as a fixer-upper and “does not meet our standards for patient care environments.”
Rockledge made national news for a bat infestation that was eventually resolved during Steward’s bankruptcy process.
“Prior to acquiring Rockledge Hospital, the healthcare system was aware that years of neglect had left the facility in such poor condition that it did not meet the system’s standards for patient care environments. … Following in-depth inspections that could only occur after acquisition, it was determined that the cost to repair and renovate Rockledge Hospital far exceeds the cost of a new, state-of-the-art hospital,” Orlando Health said in a statement.
Orlando Health, which also purchased Steward’s Melbourne Hospital and Sebastian River Hospital, said it agreed to take over Rockledge as part of its deal with Steward “to avoid the facility’s immediate closure during Steward’s bankruptcy.”
The private not-for-profit hospital system said Rockledge is “profitable” and that the closure decision is “necessary to ensure the safety of patients and team members.”
Lance Skelly, system director for public and media relations at Health First, Brevard’s largest healthcare company, told the Florida Today news site that the hospital’s announcement about the shutdown “comes as neither a shock nor surprise, as we — like the community — have long understood the physical challenges present within the facility, making it difficult to provide safe and accessible care to patients. We are examining all options to minimize impacts to our patients and community.”
The 298-bed hospital’s closing — and the void it will leave in the community, where the nearest hospital will be about 10 miles away — is a real-life example of the fear that gripped many in South Florida last year while Steward was trying to find new operators for its hospitals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Steward’s South Florida hospitals — Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Coral Gables Hospital, Hialeah Hospital, North Shore Medical Center in North Miami-Dade and Florida Medical Center in Lauderdale Lakes — are now under the operation of Healthcare Systems of America, known as HSA. The company says it has no plans to close any of the South Florida hospitals.
Doctors and nurses still worry. At Palmetto General, doctors and nurses who grappled with supply issues, delayed paychecks and service cuts under Steward, say things are not improving under HSA.
Recently, several doctors and nurses took their concerns to Hialeah’s elected city leaders to ask for help in improving the situation at the hospital, including fears that the maternity ward could close. Miami Herald
