Orlando Health Melbourne Hospital Outpatient Laboratory Services

I’m very disappointed with the Orlando Health outpatient lab in Melbourne, Florida. I’m a nurse who works in home health, and one of my patients is an Orlando Health patient whose doctors are all part of the Orlando Health network. I drew the patient’s blood per physician orders and brought it to this lab — but they refused to accept it. The supervisor came out and said he “doesn’t make the rules,” but that they still couldn’t take the specimen. I find that absolutely ridiculous. Where is the common sense or the concern for patient care? This was a straightforward Medicare patient with valid Orlando Health orders — and yet I had to drive 20–30 minutes to a competing hospital just to drop off the sample. This is not how a healthcare system should function. As a nurse, I’m shocked that a fac