Merged Together

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Will be Sold to FSU

Photo by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash

The Tallahassee City Commission is moving forward with its plans to sell Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare (TMH) to the state of Florida. This sale would allow Florida State University (FSU) to help run the hospital and create a new academic health center, which will expand access to healthcare, increase medical education and research and attract more specialists to the area.

The plan has been discussed for months, with the most recent meeting being on Oct. 30 at City Hall. At the meeting, city commissioners  voted 3-2 to advance the sale. This vote does not finalize the deal but allows FSU and TMH to keep negotiating details such as price and structure.

The current proposal is to expand the hospital board’s from 17 to 19 members. TMH would occupy 10 community seats, and nine would go to the universities. One of the new seats would go to a Tallahassee State College (TSC) representative, similar to the seat previously given to Florida A&M University (FAMU). The second additional seat would be another TMH community seat. 

“Our partnership ensures that the decision-making for Tallahassee’s hospital will remain with the community,” FSU President Richard McCullough and TMH CEO Mark O’Bryant said. “TMH and FSU each have deep roots in the City of Tallahassee, and this new affiliation only strengthens the commitment to the City of Tallahassee.” 

A final vote will happen once all the details are agreed upon. If approved, Tallahassee could see a partnership that creates a system similar to UF Health Shands in Gainesville, combining education, research and patient care.

Many leaders support the idea, saying it will bring new opportunities for students at FSU, FAMU and TSC to learn and work in the field while also attracting new medical professionals that will benefit the region. However, others, like the NAACP, are concerned that FSU will still have too much control and worry about potential harm and injustice. Patients in the community also worry that local charity care and community access may change under state ownership. 

The sale marks a significant moment in Tallahassee’s healthcare history.