TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Tallahassee City Commissioners are holding a public hearing to further discuss the potential FSU-TMH merger. Earlier today, they announced FAMU will have representation at the table, while TSC will not be represented at this time.
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE BELOW:
Faith leaders met to discuss the pending partnership with Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare.
At Bethel Missionary Baptist Church on Wednesday morning, Rev. Dr. R.B. Holmes led a coalition of pastors, university officials, and community leaders that included FSU President Richard McCullough, FAMU CEO Kevin Lawson, Provost Dr. Calandra Stringer from TSC and TMH CRO Mark O’Brien, all present to publicly endorse the FSU–TMH partnership.
All touted their excitement about the proposed agreement, adding that this will be good to improve the quality of live and health of the community.
The announcement comes before Tallahassee Commissioners meet to give the final yay or nay on the deal.
An unsigned Memorandum of Understanding outlines the framework for the agreement, pending a final vote from the Tallahassee City Commission.
According to the MOU, TMH Board of Directors will contain 17 members.
- 9 seats for TMH.
- 8 for FSU.
According to FSU, FAMU will get one seat out of the 8 FSU seats available. FAMU's board seat will come out of FSU's allotment of board seats.
FAMU Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Kelvin Lawson says the university is satisfied with the MOU and sees it as a model for collaboration and opportunity in medical training.
TSC will not hold a seat at this time. According to TCS officials,
TMH offered a statement on TSC being left out of the deal:
We welcome engagement by FAMU and TSC in the Academic Medical Center, but have not committed to place an academic seat in the TMH dedicated community seats.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare has always supported collaboration among our higher education partners, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to a governance structure with a majority of board seats under local, non-academic, community control.
TSC has been, and will continue to be, a vital part of our healthcare team, and we look forward to continue engagement with them to advance education, workforce development, and high-quality care for our community.
TMH told ABC 27, at this time, they have not commited a seat to TSC, despite earlier dicsussion from TSC outlining the college would "expect equal treatment."
The MOU also requires that at least 75 percent of the non-FSU board members be residents of Leon County or surrounding counties — ensuring local oversight remains part of the governance structure.
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