Florida could soon get a new academic medical center

For years, Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare have been laying the groundwork to develop an academic medical center.

Florida State and Tallahassee Memorial announced Tuesday that they have formed a partnership that will lead to the creation of an academic medical center in Tallahassee. It will be dubbed FSU Health.

Now, they have taken a significant step forward.

Florida State and Tallahassee Memorial announced Tuesday that they have formed a partnership that will lead to the creation of an academic medical center in Tallahassee. The new academic center will be dubbed FSU Health. Florida State is based in Tallahassee.

Officials say definitive agreements are still to come and will be finalized in the coming months.

The announcement caps months of speculation about the long-term ownership of Tallahassee Memorial. The hospital is currently owned by the city of Tallahassee and city officials would have to sign off on the deal. A nonprofit organization operates the hospital.

Florida State President Richard McCullough and Tallahassee Memorial CEO Mark O’Bryant issued a joint statement touting “a landmark agreement to advance our shared vision of creating a world-class academic health center in Tallahassee.”

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Officials said that the partnership will ensure local control of the hospital and offer more access to specialized care for residents in the Tallahassee area.

“By uniting TMH’s longstanding commitment to community care with FSU’s mission of academic excellence and service, we are seizing an extraordinary opportunity to shape the long-term future of health care in North Florida and beyond,” McCullough and O’Bryant said.

They also said it will help accelerate medical research and give students more education and career opportunities.

“It will provide the opportunity to establish the hospital as a true quaternary center — expanding services, extending its reach, generating jobs, and fueling regional growth, all while preserving it as a community-focused hospital,” McCullough and O’Bryant said.

With the memorandum of understanding announced this week, Tallahassee Memorial’s assets will be transferred to Florida State. Tallahassee Memorial operates a 2-million-square-foot hospital and a 75-acre property, along with other clinics and assets.

Tallahassee Memorial will take the FSU Health brand and operate the hospital, and will retain its status as an independent, tax-exempt organization. Florida State will likely lease the properties under a 40-year agreement, officials said.

Tallahassee Memorial will continue to be led by current management, officials said. Tallahassee Memorial’s board of directors will continue to oversee the hospital and approve its budget, but the board will include members representing Florida State.

Employees of Tallahassee Memorial will continue to be employees of the hospital and will not be employees of state government, officials said.

The road to this partnership has rankled some in the area, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Many were surprised when the city said it was exploring the possibility of selling the hospital, with some wanting it to remain under the hospital board’s control.

McCullough wrote an op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat in April about the potential of forming an academic medical center with Tallahassee Memorial. He wrote that it will offer better patient care options, while patients could still see their own doctors.

“To be clear, FSU is interested in creating an academic medical center with TMH to improve and advance health care in our community. There’s no state takeover and employees would not become state workers,” McCullough wrote in the op-ed.

The hospital will retain existing partnerships with Florida A&M University and Tallahassee State College.

The leaders of Florida State and Tallahassee Memorial said they will soon present plans to the city of Tallahassee.

Tallahassee Memorial and Florida State first signed off on a strategic vision for an academic health partnership in 2021.

A year later, they launched the development of the FSU Health Research Center, securing $125 million from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state legislature. The building will offer space for laboratories and patient care. It is expected to open next year.

Florida State has also undertaken plans to build a 180-bed hospital in Panama City Beach, and the facility will be called FSU Health.

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