Nashville’s already a healthcare hub, and it’s looking to get even bigger

When Oracle Corp. announced that it is moving its global headquarters to Nashville, it amplified Music City’s growing reputation as a magnet for healthcare companies.

Stephanie Coleman, president and CEO of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, says Oracle's move to Nashville should expand Music City's reputation as a hub for healthcare companies.

Oracle says it is focusing heavily on healthcare, and the tech giant acquired Cerner in 2022. Saying it wants to be near other healthcare companies and talent, Oracle is moving its world headquarters to a 65-acre tract in Nashville, near the new stadium being built for the Tennessee Titans. Oracle expects the new headquarters to be open by 2030.

Stephanie Coleman, president and CEO of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, says Oracle’s relocation heralds the development of additional healthcare companies in and around the city.

“Our brand is music and hospitality and entertainment, but healthcare is truly the economic driver that fuels our economy, so it's really critical,” Coleman tells Chief Healthcare Executive® in a recent interview.

“And that connection point between the creative innovative thinkers that come here for music also overlaps with the creative innovators who are building healthcare opportunities here in Nashville,” she says. “And that's a pretty incredible thing to watch.”

HCA Healthcare, America’s largest for-profit hospital system, is based in Nashville. HCA has driven a great deal of the growth of healthcare companies in the city, Coleman says.

“They are a homegrown company here in Nashville who have become our largest healthcare employer here,” Coleman says. “They are global in nature, but they also have spun off so many other companies over their lifespan.”

As the healthcare industry has grown in Nashville, other companies have emerged, including healthcare management companies and those that offer support services to providers.

“Technology has become a big kind of new area of economic growth that we've seen here as healthcare providers are looking for technology solutions that are going to improve patient care and efficiency,” she says. “So we're continuing to see how the healthcare industry here in Nashville has driven broad economic growth, even beyond healthcare.”

Not so coincidentally, Nashville has hosted the ViVE digital health conference for two of the last three years. This year’s event, held in February, drew several thousand attendees to Nashville.

In addition to HCA, two other large hospital systems, Community Health Systems and Ardent Health Services, are based just outside the city. Last year, Belmont University opened Nashville’s third medical school, the Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine, joining Vanderbilt University’s medical school and Meharry Medical College.

With Oracle coming to the city, Coleman says it’s another statement about Nashville as a destination for healthcare companies.

“When a company like Oracle makes that kind of announcement, I think obviously ears perk up,” Coleman says. “Because you know that a company like that, they have the ability to kind of see into the future a little bit and to project forward where there is opportunity, and certainly we believe there's opportunity here.

“But it's a reinforcement and a recognition that that opportunity exists, and we believe that a large part of why Oracle looked at Nashville was because of that healthcare hub that we have here, and because of our growing tech hub as well,” she says.

Now, Coleman sees potential for more healthcare companies with the campus being developed in east Nashville, where Oracle’s new headquarters will be built.

“It is a really unique opportunity in Nashville to really create some place-based elements of innovation, bringing together creative thinkers, business leaders, venture capital and really that innovation mindset in close proximity, so that we can do more than I think we even maybe right now can imagine,” Coleman says.

“So that's where I see a huge opportunity for Nashville,” she adds. “It is more of … how do we bring people together in proximity to do some really big, creative, innovative things in the healthcare space and beyond. That's exciting, because I don't think that opportunity exists everywhere, but it certainly exists here.”

Oracle’s move to Nashville and the growing number of healthcare technology companies in the region sends a signal about the ample supply of tech talent in the region, she says.

“It's really creating an environment here where, if you're a tech worker, if that's your background and your career path, that you have multiple opportunities here,” Coleman says.

Healthcare companies realize Nashville’s high quality of life and countless recreation opportunities appeals to prospective employees. The region’s rising housing prices are a concern for companies, Coleman acknowledges. But Tennessee doesn’t have an income tax, and that’s enticing for employees.

“It may not be the first thing that an individual thinks about when they move to a new location, but it's absolutely part of the full equation of what makes an area attractive,” Coleman says.