For years, Vanderbilt Health has been a part of Rutherford County, caring for thousands of children and adults from this community. It’s personalized care delivered by more than 1,700 Vanderbilt employees who call Rutherford County home.

We’re enhancing our commitment to serve Rutherford County with plans for a new 42-bed community hospital near the intersection of Veterans Parkway and S.R. 840, about 8 miles west of downtown Murfreesboro. 

This full-service hospital will provide emergency care, surgical capabilities and heart catheterization services. It will enhance the obstetric, pediatric and ICU care in the county.

Project Description  

A 42-bed full-service community hospital near the intersection of Veterans Parkway and S.R. 840, approximately 8 miles west of downtown Murfreesboro. This community hospital will include 26 adult medical/surgical beds, 4 intensive care beds, 6 pediatric beds, 6 obstetrical beds, and a complement of 8 observation beds. It will include radiology, surgical suites, and emergency department. It will also have diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac catherization services.

Why VUMC Wants to Build a Hospital in Murfreesboro

• Too many residents are currently enduring the burden of I-24 travel to get the services they want from Vanderbilt.
• During FY21, Vanderbilt treated more than 52,000 unique patients from Rutherford County, an increase of 20% from 43,000 in FY18. More than 75% of these patients received services at Vanderbilt facilities in Davidson County. These patients are bypassing medical providers and hospitals in Rutherford County to get the care they want at Vanderbilt.
•  A new Vanderbilt hospital in Murfreesboro will greatly improve access for patients whose hospital of choice is Vanderbilt.
• At the same time, a hospital in Murfreesboro will help alleviate congestion at Vanderbilt’s main campus, so the main campus can concentrate on highly complex cases.

 

A Vanderbilt hospital in Murfreesboro will not duplicate services but will improve health care in the area.

• Much better access to care for patients who choose Vanderbilt as their hospital.
• More patient choice for patients who are dissatisfied with the limited choices currently available.
• Vanderbilt will bring a higher level of pediatric care than currently exists in the market. There are more than 70,000 children under the age of 14 currently live in Rutherford County. Children and their parents will benefit from the availability of a higher level of pediatric care.
• The hospital will support the presence of more Vanderbilt specialist physicians in Murfreesboro.
• The hospital will be a platform for making Vanderbilt specialty physician care available through telehealth.

 

A Vanderbilt Hospital in Murfreesboro will not harm Saint Thomas Rutherford

• The focus of the project is to improve access to care for the significant number of patients who already choose not to use Saint Thomas Rutherford.
• Moreover, the explosive population growth in Rutherford County supports the need for another hospital in Murfreesboro. From 2010 to 2020, the population of Rutherford County grew by about 80,000 residents. This population growth was recently amplified by the pandemic, which has caused a significant relocation of more residents into the region.
• Saint Thomas Rutherford is a financially strong institution as evidenced by its recent announcement of a $110 million expansion. When their expansion is complete, Saint Thomas Rutherford will have a total of 416 beds. Vanderbilt’s 42-bed hospital does not threaten the strength of Saint Thomas Rutherford.
• Vanderbilt project is not anti-Saint Thomas, and we have no intent or desire to harm Saint Thomas Rutherford or any other provider. Rather than engaging in a protracted, expensive Certificate of Need fight, Vanderbilt would much prefer to work with Saint Thomas and others to elevate health care in the Rutherford Community.

 

A Vanderbilt hospital in Murfreesboro will not consume scarce health care resources to the detriment of Saint Thomas Rutherford and other providers.  

• Vanderbilt Rutherford Hospital will be staffed through a redistribution of existing Vanderbilt nurses and employees with minimal staffing impact existing providers.  Vanderbilt employs approximately 1700 clinical and nonclinical staff who currently live in Rutherford County. When the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital Murfreesboro outpatient facility opened in December 2019, 96% percent of the “new” employees at that facility were existing Vanderbilt personnel who elected to transfer to this new location closer to their homes. Vanderbilt Rutherford Hospital will be similarly staffed with existing Vanderbilt employees. 
•  The Vanderbilt Rutherford hospital will provide an opportunity for Vanderbilt employees to work close to their homes, just as it will enable Vanderbilt patients to obtain care closer to their homes. The project will elevate the level of care and increase the availability of health care in the community. 

 

The community will benefit from the high level of care for which Vanderbilt is known.

• Vanderbilt is recognized year after year for its quality of care by numerous independent organizations including the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals rankings. In fact, Vanderbilt was the only Tennessee hospital to be nationally ranked by number in U.S. News and World Report's 2019-2020 Best Hospitals Ranking. Through a combination of Vanderbilt physicians and advanced telemedicine, Vanderbilt will bring its nationally recognized model of care to Rutherford County.
• The Vanderbilt Rutherford Hospital project is a natural extension of the medical services Vanderbilt has introduced to the service area over the past decade.  VUMC currently has more than 140 physicians and advanced practitioners providing care in Rutherford County.  Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt offers a variety of services across two locations in Murfreesboro, including clinic appointments for 12 different subspecialties, imaging, urgent and after-hours care and outpatient surgical capacity in ENT, gastroenterology, orthopedics, and urology.