ORLANDO, Fla. — Dozens held a rally Friday protesting the closing of Orlando Health Rockledge Hospital.

What You Need To Know

  • The hospital system announced in late February it would shut it down its newly-purchased facility and build a new regional hospital in the future
  • If this hospital closes without a replacement, it is nearly 20 minutes to the nearest one, and more than a half-hour to two others

  • One of those at the rally, Mona Hartselle, says her husband owes the doctors and nurses here his life

The hospital system announced in late February it would shut it down its newly-purchased facility and build a new regional hospital in the future.

But many are concerned about response times.

If this hospital closes without a replacement, it is nearly 20 minutes to the nearest one, and more than a half-hour to two others.

It is that and employees like doctors and nurses who feel blindsided since the hospital was taken over just months ago.

Mona Hartselle was at the rally. She says her husband Ted owes the doctors and nurses here his life.

On Oct. 29, 2023, he had a heart attack at home. First responders arrived in four minutes.

She says Ted lay dead on the floor, and paramedics shocked him. After an eight-minute ride they got to Orlando Health Rockledge Hospital.

She says the care he received was excellent.

“He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this hospital, and our first responders got to him quickly and were able to get him back here quickly,” Hartselle said.

Orlando Health says it was aware of the poor condition of the former Rockledge hospital and knew the facility was not able to meet their system’s standards in caring for patients.

In the sale, it agreed to also purchase two other hospitals in Melbourne and Sebastian in an effort to avoid closing Rockledge right away.

After more inspections, Orlando Health determined the cost to repair and renovate exceeded the costs of a new state of the art hospital.

Orlando Health will be holding career fairs and working to relocate to the more than 3,000 positions available in the system.

But for nurses like 16-year veteran Nora George, this situation has been a hard pill to swallow.

“There was light at the end of the tunnel, and then they kind of pulled the rug out from under us,” George says.

Hartselle is concerned if another medical issue happens to her husband.

“If he has another cardiac event, I might lose him that time,” she says.

Rockledge Hospital is set to close at 11:59 pm Tuesday April 22.