Health First’s Viera Hospital Earns One of Florida’s Only CMS 5-Star Ratings, Launching Growth and Expansion Plans

HEALTH FIRST’S VIERA HOSPITAL EARNS THIRD STRAIGHT CMS 5-STAR RATING

One of only 10 hospitals in the state of Florida to earn the distinction.

What to know:

■ Health First’s Viera Hospital is one of only 10 Florida Hospitals (out of nearly 350) to earn highly coveted CMS 5-Star recognition.

■ Viera is one of only two Central Florida hospitals to earn the distinction this year.

■ Honor comes during a year of challenges in the Brevard healthcare landscape – and accelerated growth plans for Viera and Health First. 

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – For the third straight year, Health First’s Viera Hospital has been awarded the highly coveted 5-star overall rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

CMS in August released its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for 2025, and Health First’s Viera Hospital was one of only 290 U.S. hospitals (and one of only 10 in the state of Florida) to earn the top 5-Star rating.

Viera Hospital is the only 5-Star hospital in Brevard County – and one of only two in Central Florida.

CMS publishes its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings annually. Star ratings reflect a hospital’s performance across five quality measures: mortality, safety, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care. Learn more about how CMS calculates star ratings here.

More impressive, Viera’s top honor comes within a year of a tremendous, unexpected change in the Brevard County healthcare landscape – with Orlando Health’s decision to close nearby Rockledge Hospital in April, and amid an accelerated growth plan for Viera Hospital and across Health First’s footprint along the Space Coast.

The Rockledge closure immediately required local hospitals – including the nearest facility – Viera – to absorb thousands of annual emergency and labor and delivery patients – among other needs.

“It has certainly been no secret to anyone that Orlando Health’s decision to close Rockledge Hospital in April has been challenging for our community – our patients, their loved ones, EMS, transport teams, and hospitals and provider offices across the Space Coast,” said Victor Vargas, MD, Health First Chief Medical Officer – Hospital Division.

“We’re immensely proud of and thankful for the Health First Medical Group OBGYN physicians, Brevard Physician Associates’ Emergency physicians, and the many countless care teams and associated that have managed the incredible surge in volumes over these past few months. This challenge is not over, but we are working to support these teams and alleviate the surge. Viera Hospital receiving its third straight CMS 5-Star rating could not be a better or more fitting honor. In any career field, the very best of the best find a way to push themselves even harder in the midst of challenges … that’s exactly what we’ve seen at Viera and across Health First.”

Over the next 18 months, Viera Hospital will roll out a series of ambitious projects designed to expand access, reduce wait times, and deliver more specialized care – from maternity and cardiology – to gastrointestinal and surgical services.

After the 2024 opening of the Labor and Delivery unit, half of the hospital’s fifth floor is primed for expansion and usage.

“We’ve been waiting for the right time and purpose for that space, and now we’re moving forward with construction to add at least 20 inpatient beds,” said Mike Mullowney, president, Health First Hospital Division.

“Given the growth in our Mother/Baby services, we’re also designating four of those beds to support that program – allowing us to continue meeting the needs of our community as well as the continued demand in women’s health.”

Construction on the new inpatient unit is expected to be completed by spring 2026. Once open, the added capacity will help ease pressure on the emergency department, where patients have at times faced delays waiting for inpatient beds.

To further support maternal care, Viera Hospital has launched an OB Hospitalist Program this past July, providing 24/7 in-hospital physician coverage for obstetric emergencies — a significant upgrade in responsiveness and continuity of care.

“We saw explosive growth in the Mother/Baby unit, which opened in August 2024 — greater than 30% more deliveries than we had previously at Cape Canaveral Hospital,” Mullowney said.

That increase, along with the closure of Orlando Health Rockledge’s labor and delivery unit, created challenges for OB-GYNs juggling both hospital and clinic responsibilities.

“Physicians are constantly coming to the hospital from the Birth Suites to take care of the emergent needs,” Mullowney explained.

“It’s really tough to be in two places at one time taking care of everything. The OB Hospitalist Program will allow in-house physicians to manage emergencies as they happen. This will allow Viera to triage every patient immediately, handle urgent needs on the spot, and focus on the quality and safety of the program — giving our community timely care they can rely on.”

Beyond maternal care, Viera Hospital is also addressing growth in other key service areas. To meet increasing surgical demand, the hospital is expanding its operating suite with two additional rooms.

Viera currently has six operating rooms, and Health First is adding two more for a total of eight that will be completed and estimated in December of 2025.

Gastroenterology services are also expanding with the opening of a newly built endoscopy suite this July. The upgraded space features three procedure rooms and is designed to support both elective and inpatient GI care. The added GI space is essential to keeping up with the growing volume of both elective and inpatient procedures.

Cardiac care also is entering a new chapter at Viera with the introduction of advanced heart rhythm services — a major step forward for local patients.

“We are upgrading all of our equipment to be able to offer electrophysiology procedures, which will be opening in September 2025,” Mullowney said. “Right now, patients have to travel to other facilities in the county for these services, so this marks an exciting beginning as we bring advanced cardiac care right here to Viera.”

Enhanced imaging capabilities are also planned. A state-of-the-art CT scanner will be installed at the nearby Viera Medical Plaza by March 2026, expanding outpatient access while freeing up in-hospital imaging for emergency and inpatient needs.

“We are adding a new state-of-the-art CT scanner to the Viera Medical Plaza, which will allow us to continue to give really good outpatient access for everybody that needs CT scans, while allowing the two CT scanners we have in the hospital to be better used for supporting our emergency department and inpatient needs,” Mullowney said.

Outside the hospital, Health First is expanding access in Rockledge with the development of a new freestanding emergency department, expected to open by the end of 2026.

“The freestanding ER in nearby Rockledge will provide an additional access point for emergency department care and also an opportunity for things that are not life-threatening to give them another avenue of access versus coming into the hospital,” Mullowney said.

With several major projects already underway, Health First is also exploring additional opportunities to meet community needs.

“We’re working through future development opportunities, and we want the community to know we’re committed to growing alongside them — to meet the needs of our friends, neighbors, families and colleagues. These plans and investments are not just about infrastructure – they are part of our ongoing commitment to this community” Mullowney said. “Being able to support our community in meaningful ways is part of our mission.”

“The CMS recognition ties a celebratory bow around the package of our many ongoing projects – and I could not be prouder of the hard work, dedication, and passion each and every one of our physicians, nurse, associates and volunteers bring to Viera Hospital’s patients and community each day,” said Mullowney. “This incredible work could not be recognized any better than with a third straight CMS 5-Star rating – placing us among only 10 hospitals in the state of Florida.”

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