By HFT Staff

Health First celebrated a major construction milestone with the topping off ceremony for the new Cape Canaveral Hospital campus. The event marked the placement of the final structural beam on the project’s medical office building, signifying that the structure has reached its full height and that construction is progressing steadily. 

Almost two years to the date since Health First broke ground on the new Cape Canaveral replacement hospital in Merritt Island, officials celebrated the last official steel beam being prepared for installment within the campus Medical Office Building. The “topping off ceremony” included an 8-foot-long Health First-branded steel construction beam. 

The ceremony marks a major construction milestone and the event recognized and celebrated project partners, leadership, community stakeholders and construction teams all integral to the construction of the new facility.  

Construction is slated to finish by the end of 2026 or early 2027 and the hospital is expected to officially open to the public in mid- 2027. The new 268,000-square-foot Cape Canaveral Hospital will include: 

• 120 private inpatient beds. 
• 25 Emergency Department treatment rooms – doubling the existing number of emergency rooms. 
• 6 Operating Rooms. 

The hospital was designed for and will be built to withstand a Category 4 hurricane. Continuation of care and the potential for evacuation will be evaluated for individual storms, in consultation with state officials. 

Additionally, the entire campus site will be constructed 13 feet above sea level to withstand storm surge. The campus will be served by an on-site Central Energy Plant, built to ensure continuous power function even during tropical storms and hurricanes. 

The campus will feature ample parking, including 296 paved/surface parking spots and 533 covered/structure parking spots. 

The new project will also include a new 3-story, 92,000-square-foot Medical Office Building. Construction is expected to be completed by late 2026 and begin serving the community in early 2027 – simultaneously with the new Cape Canaveral Hospital.