- Local leaders and neighbors voiced opposition Thursday to a proposed ownership change for TMH.
- FSU and TMH say they plan to present a proposal to city commissioners in the near future.
- Watch now to hear neighbors and officials explain their positions.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A meeting of minds against a potential sale of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare to Florida State University.
I'm Alberto Camargo in the Midtown neighborhood. I'm finding out where negotiations stand and hearing from elected officials and neighbors about why they oppose any change of ownership for TMH.
This issue first came up at a Tallahassee city commission meeting in March, through an informational item about a potential sale.
Three months later, not much has changed.
FSU and TMH shared this joint statement with me Thursday about what they say is the scope of negotiations at the moment.
"Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare continue to discuss the future of health care in Tallahassee and the North Florida region. These discussions include the formation of an academic medical center in Tallahassee. Our goal is to present a detailed proposal to the Tallahassee city commission in the near future."
At Thursday's town hall, some elected officials met with a group of neighbors all on the same page: no sale.
"Doctors at TMH saved both of my son's lives, they were born premature. We got to know the doctors very well there. It is a good, decent instrument for good in this community, and it saves lives. And the fact that they would gamble that. It says a lot about the best and the worst of who is representing you."
Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter said the discussion of a sale blindsided them. They say they remain largely in the dark about any conversations.
Matlow says the current system is not broken, and it does not need fixing.
"The best approach is a collaborative approach, where TMH maintains the structure it has in coordination with city government. And we support Florida State in its pursuit of academic medicine. And that's kind of what we stand to lose in this approach. We have the best of all worlds right now."
Commissioner Jack Porter says the people that TMH serves would benefit most from the continued partnership between the university and the hospital, rather than any transfer of ownership.
"FSU has a certain responsibility and it's not to the community at large, it's to FSU. And that's appropriate for them. But what's appropriate for the city is to think bigger than that, and that includes FSU."
Mayor John Dailey and commissioners Curtis Richardson and Dianne Williams-Cox were not present at the town hall.
Both the Tallahassee City Commission and FSU Board of Trustees are scheduled to meet next week.
I read through each meeting agenda, and as of Thursday evening, neither included any updates concerning TMH.
In Midtown, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
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