The Tennessee regulators who decide whether a community needs another hospital have authorized Vanderbilt University Medical Center to build a $144 million facility in Murfreesboro, NPR affiliate WPLN reports. The contested certificate of need passed the Health Services and Development Agency board on Wednesday by a vote of 5-1.
Dr. Kenneth Patric, who made the motion to approve, noted that Rutherford County doesn’t necessarily need more hospital beds at the moment, but Vanderbilt provided figures for how many residents are currently driving to VUMC in Nashville to get care and bypassing Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford and TriStar Stonecrest.
Both hospitals opposed allowing Vanderbilt to build in Rutherford County. Read more.