Florida State University and the city of Tallahassee say they've reached a deal on the sale of Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare.
The Tallahassee City Commission voted 3-2 in October for city staff to enter negotiations, though talks had been ongoing at the time. FSU president Richard McCullough announced the tentative terms Tuesday.
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In an email to university employees, he said FSU will pay Tallahassee $109 million over 30 years for the hospital's property and assets. The school will also commit $100 million to facility upgrades and $150 million to improvements for clinical and academic purposes over the next 10 years.
"This pending agreement is the result of positive collaboration with the city and a shared vision for the future of health care, education and research in our region," McCullough said in a release announcing the memorandum of understanding.
The deal is not yet finalized. It must be approved by the Tallahassee City Commission.
"This agreement charts a bold, transformative path forward," Mayor John Dailey said in a press release from the city. "Thanks to the dedication of professionals who refuse to accept the status quo, the future of health care in Tallahassee will be better. By aligning our hospital with one of the state's premier universities to create an academic health center, we are redefining health care in a way that positively impacts the lives of residents locally and across the region."
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The potential sale has been the subject of heated debate at times over the past several months. One of the loudest critics has been City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow. When asked about the announcement, he said he does not think the price is high enough.
"What's being proposed is only $109 million at zero interest over 30 years, so the public that owns that hospital will only receive just over $3 million a year. I think that's just a bad use of public assets, and we need to make sure that people who own the hospital get what it's worth so we can reinvest that money into our community," Matlow said.
Tallahassee Commissioner Curtis Richardson said he's glad the sides came to terms because it will improve healthc are in the region.
"I hope that this will encourage FSU and TMH now to finalize their agreement so that we can move forward with making this happen," he said.
In a statement to WFSU, Commissioner Jack Porter said she opposes the sale.
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"I want to see improved health care and an academic health center in Tallahassee — neither of which requires us to sell the hospital," she said. "But selling one of our greatest public assets without an appraisal for pennies on the dollar with so little opportunity for meaningful community engagement is a bad deal for Tallahassee."
Reports of a potential sale of the hospital to FSU emerged in March
A final public hearing will likely be scheduled in early 2026.
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