Health First has notified 214 associates that their positions are being eliminated, a move affecting about 2% of the health system's 10,350-person workforce across Brevard County. The cuts hit administrative, management, and clerical support roles, and come with the shutdown of the system's Hospital at Home program.
The layoffs, reported by WKMG ClickOrlando, will not touch hospitals or emergency departments, which remain open and staffed. According to the health system, no clinical facilities are closing as part of the restructuring.
The timing stands out. As Health First pares back overhead, it is simultaneously executing nearly $800 million in capital expansion projects across the county, according to Reach Commercial Real Estate. That includes a new 13,500-square-foot freestanding emergency room in Rockledge and a $230 million patient tower expansion at Palm Bay Hospital.
What's Actually Ending
The Hospital at Home program is being discontinued, according to the account relayed by WKMG.
Health First Medical Group is also ending its standalone comprehensive health assessment program. The station's report describes the service as ending as a standalone program.
Patients affected by changes at the Viera Integrated Care location will transfer to what the company calls the Gateway team.
Severance and Support for Displaced Workers
Impacted associates will receive a 60-day paid notice period, retaining full pay and benefits during that window, the report states.
The layoffs affect Health First associates.
A Building Boom Alongside the Cuts
The layoffs land in the middle of Health First's nearly $800 million capital expansion program. The system completed a structural topping-off ceremony in March for its new $410 million replacement Cape Canaveral Hospital on Merritt Island, according to a report relayed by My Merritt Island. That project broke ground in March 2024 and is scheduled to open in early 2027, relocating the hospital away from its current site in Cocoa Beach.
It isn't the first time Health First has adjusted the project's scope to manage costs. Back in 2023, the health system scaled back its planned Merritt Island complex to save roughly $100 million, cutting an ambitious multi-use “wellness village” retail design in favor of a more traditional hospital layout, as Florida Medical Office Space reported at the time.
The current round of cuts comes as Health First reshapes its administrative operations. It remains unclear whether technology changes contributed to the administrative streamlining announced this week.
Why Hospital at Home Programs Are Struggling Nationally
Health First's decision to wind down its home-hospital model comes amid broader discussion about hospital-at-home programs.
Health First has a 10,350-person workforce across Brevard County and operates hospitals and medical services in the region.
It remains unclear how many of the 214 affected workers will land open clinical roles within the organization, or how smoothly patients will move through the transitions tied to the closed programs. Those questions remain open as Health First continues both its layoffs and its multi-hundred-million-dollar building program across Brevard County.
