The State University System\u2019s Board of Governors will be asked to approve the transfer of city-owned hospital assets from Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare to Florida State University.<\/p>\n
The March 26 agenda for the board\u2019s meeting at the University of West Florida calls for authorizing the long-term contract. This contract includes an investment by FSU of $1.7 billion locally over the next 30 years as part of an asset transfer agreement with Tallahassee.<\/p>\n
On March 11, the Tallahassee City Commission voted 3-2 to approve the transfer, which proponents frame as moving the region\u2019s primary hospital into a full academic health center that will expand health care access across North Florida.<\/p>\n
FSU will assume ownership under the agreement, and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare will operate the hospital under an amended and restated 40-year lease. Patients in the region have been promised<\/a> better access to specialty care options, the latest treatments and more under the FSU Health flag.<\/p>\n Scenes from Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare throughout the years<\/p>\n 1 of 56<\/p>\n Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Tuesday, April 7, 2020.<\/p>\n The decision to sell the hospital came after months of negotiations between the city of Tallahassee and FSU.<\/p>\n The vote was pushed through with Mayor John Dailey, City Commissioners Dianne Williams-Cox and Curtis Richardson voting yes and Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter voting no.<\/p>\n While the transfer is a major stride toward a full-fledged academic health center, there are many steps to go. Negotiations between TMH and FSU attorneys are\u00a0ongoing with no clear end in sight,<\/a>\u00a0and even when an agreement is reached, officials have cautioned that building out the new health care enterprise will take time.<\/p>\n The decision to sell the hospital met major pushback, with critics saying the transfer was premature without definitive agreements in place. A provision in the transfer agreement allows a transfer to be initiated April 1, regardless of the status of the TMH-FSU agreement.<\/p>\n The News Service of Florida and local government watchdog reporter Elena Barrera contributed. <\/p>\n