Wuesthoff Hospital, 1941 to 2025: Rockledge's hospital, from founding to demolition

Rockledge’s hospital began in 1941 as Wuesthoff Hospital and closed for good at 11:59 p.m. on April 22, 2025, after 84 years. By then it was Orlando Health Rockledge Hospital, a 298-bed facility with, as WKMG News 6 reported, the second-busiest emergency room in Brevard County. Demolition began in January 2026.

The end

The last owners came out of a bankruptcy. Orlando Health took possession of the Rockledge hospital in October 2024, along with two other hospitals, buying them from Steward Health Care in Steward’s bankruptcy. Six months after the purchase, it closed the Rockledge hospital. Orlando Health said it had known the building had problems but hadn’t realized how serious they were until it began opening walls and ceilings after the purchase, and it released photographs of conditions inside.

The closing drew protests from nurses and residents, and a public plea from Cocoa’s city council to reconsider. Orlando Health said it planned to serve the area with a new $600 million hospital and freestanding emergency rooms, without saying when or where. Health First, Brevard’s other hospital system, said its own hospitals were seeing heavier patient loads and moved up plans for a freestanding emergency room in Rockledge at Fiske Boulevard and Roy Wall Boulevard.

The site

Demolition began in January 2026, WFTV reported. Orlando Health planned to give the land back to the City of Rockledge, and city officials said it would stay zoned for medical use.

Further Reading

• Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon