Nashville General Hospital considers new site, surprising Meharry Medical College officials

Nashville General Hospital has proposed shuttering its quarter-century-old campus at Meharry Medical College and relocating to another site in north Nashville, a plan that apparently caught Meharry officials by surprise.

Hospital officials unveiled the plan drafted by Capital Project Solutions for a possible new health center at 720 Mainstream Drive during a Hospital Authority Board meeting last week.

The board reached out to Capital Project Solutions in October because the existing 49-year-old health center building is outdated and needs expensive upgrades to meet contemporary hospital standards. But Meharry President and CEO James Hildreth said this week that the planning comes as a surprise.

"Please be aware that Meharry was not consulted nor aware of these plans until they were released," Hildreth wrote in a letter to staff Wednesday. "This is disappointing, as Nashville General is housed in our hospital on our campus and has been staffed by Meharry faculty and residents for 25 years."

Search for new hospital site: Nashville General Hospital in early stages of planning for new location, eyes 3 sites

COVID-19: Two floors of Nashville General converted to coronavirus ward

Last week's presentation did not include an estimate for how much a new hospital would cost or how the project might be financed. The Hospital Authority Board took no formal action on the plans.

Dick Darr of Capital Project Solutions told board members that Nashville General Hospital is too small to accommodate the community's growth, needs expensive renovations and consumes twice the amount of power as newer buildings.

"Nashville General's current facility on Meharry College's campus is undersized, outdated, systems at end-of-life and requires a near equal amount of financial investment to bring the building and infrastructure closer to modern building standards and code requirements as a new hospital," Darr said. "A new Nashville General Hospital facility would provide better health care. Simple as that."

The plan calls for the city to donate the land for the project. The proposed site is just north of Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, an area now occupied by Ted Rhodes Fields.

A spokeswoman for Nashville General said Thursday that the relocation process has been ongoing since 2018 and provided a copy of a 2020 letter to Meharry asking them to take part in the process. The hospital also released a written statement that said, in part:

"On several occasions Nashville General invited Meharry Medical College President and CEO to discuss the hospital relocation plans. Each invitation was declined with a response that he was meeting with the Mayor.TJ Ducklo, spokesman for the mayor's office, said the city is reviewing the plan."

“We are reviewing the proposal, and any next steps will include input from all stakeholders including the surrounding community and Meharry Medical College," Ducklo said. "The property in question is currently home to some of Metro Park’s busiest sports fields, and any change in how those fields are used must comply with Park’s no-net-loss requirement – meaning the result cannot be reduced parks space for Nashville residents.”

Nashville General, whose lease with Meharry ends in 2026, has been considering a move for years. In 2020, it was looking at city land in Bordeaux, MetroCenter and Whites Creek.

The city provides tens of millions of dollars in subsidies to the 11-story, public safety-net hospital and holds the lease with Meharry.

Frank Gluck is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at fgluck@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FrankGluck.

Want to read more stories like this? A subscription to one of our Tennessee publications gets you unlimited access to all the latest political news, plus newsletters, a personalized mobile experience, and the ability to tap into stories, photos and videos from throughout the USA TODAY Network's daily sites.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville General Hospital looks at new site, surprising Meharry