The Westcott building and fountain at Florida State University on Dec. 31, 2024. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
The Florida State University Board of Trustees and State University System Board of Governors gave approval Thursday for the university to purchase Tallahassee’s main hospital.
Both boards by voice votes approved the contract between FSU and the City of Tallahassee for $109 million to be paid over 30 years. That comes out to about $3.63 million per year and there is no interest charged.
“This is the first major step in building FSU Health and taking a big step toward improving health care, but also building clinical and biological biomedical research for Florida State University. So, it’s a big deal.” FSU President Richard McCullough said during the FSU meeting.
The agreement upends a decades-long relationship between the city, which owned the hospital, land, and all the assets, and Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Inc. a nonprofit that administered and operated the hospital.
Through the end of 2034, FSU will contribute $100 million to upgrade the property and another $150 million to clinical faculty, resources, and academic operations as stipulated in the contract.
“I think that when we consider what you are doing today, it will not only rebrand the great brand of Florida State but it will send a message of our commitment to help the poorest among us,” Board of Governors member and former legislator Doug Broxson told McCullough during the BOG meeting.
Whether the city should keep its assets and contract with TMH or turn the hospital, land, and assets over to FSU was a contentious issue in the capital city. Opponents worried the hospital would be under the control of FSU, whose board of governors is appointed by the state’s governor. Proponents of the transfer argued that aligning with a medical school and research university could only improve the health care delivery system for locals.
The Tallahassee City Commission voted, 3-2, March 11 to approve the sale.
“This is going to be transformational for the university, it’s going to be transformational for Tallahassee and North Florida, it’s going to be transformational for TMH, and we’re going to invest a lot of money in health care in Tallahassee and the Panhandle through this,” FSU Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins said during the FSU meeting.
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In acquiring the hospital, FSU joins the University of Miami, site of the state’s first college of medicine, and the University of Florida in hospital operations.
The medical schools at Florida Atlantic University, University of Central Florida, Florida International University, and Nova Southeastern have agreements with local hospitals to help train medical students.
Although the deal was approved Thursday, the connection between the City of Tallahassee and FSU can be traced in part to 2021, when the Legislature and governor approved funding for an academic health center at TMH. FSU broke ground on that project in 2023 and it is set to be completed by the end of the year.
When the Legislature created FSU’s medical school in 2000, it was the first medical school opened in 20 years in the nation.
It’s charge, according to state statute, is serving “especially the needs of the state’s elderly, rural, minority, and other underserved citizens.”
“As you know, as part of our vision at Florida State University is to expand health care into Tallahassee and Northwest Florida and be involved not only in improving clinical care for the region but also to expand clinical research and medical research,” McCullough said during a virtual FSU Board of Trustees meeting Thursday morning.
To that end, FSU last week announced a partnership with the Apalachee Center to research and collaborate on behavioral health problems and mental illness. According to FSU, that partnership “complements the university’s work through FSU Health to expand access and quality care across the state.”
FSU also is in the process of building an acute care hospital in Panama City Beach. It was estimated last year to cost about $414 million. TMH will operate that location. TMH also will continue to have a say in Tallahassee. TMH holds an amended lease that requires its board of directors to approve the hospital’s budget.