The Tallahassee City Commission gave final approval to transfer Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare's assets to Florida State University on Wednesday.
The agreement includes an FSU investment of $1.7 billion in the hospital. Under the deal, Tallahassee Memorial will lease the facility from FSU Health and run it as an academic hospital. Both will continue collaborating on education, research and clinical care.
Before the 3-2 vote, members of the community spoke at the commission meeting, including Michael Dalby, CEO of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. He approves of the plan.
"Simply put, health care is not only a public good, but also a business imperative. Voting yes strengthens Tallahassee position as a place where existing and future employers can confidently invest, grow and recruit and retain talent," he said.
But several speakers criticized the process leading up to the transaction and how negotiations moved forward.
"I think there are externalities that are going to affect living people for generations to come after all of us in this room are long and gone. And I think that we need to take that into the gravity of the decision into account," Tallahassee resident Wiz Benoit said.
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey supports the transfer, saying it will help transform health care access in North Florida. The mayor votes as part of the commission.
"Out of the 20 years that I have served in elected office, this will probably be the most important, if not one of the most important votes that I will take. One of the most important decisions as an elected official that we can take in our careers," he said.
Commissioner Jack Porter voted no, expressing concerns about transparency in the process and worries about handing a major community health care resource to a state entity.
"To date, there's been no appraisal, no plan, no discussion of alternative models for a partnership that don't involve a sale, no willingness of the majority to compromise. I believe this could have been a 5-0 vote. I fully believe that," she said.
University and hospital leaders emphasized that "Tallahassee Memorial’s longstanding mission of serving all members of the community will remain unchanged."
The partnership already includes a 140,000-square-foot FSU Health Research Center, which is under construction on the Tallahassee Memorial campus.
According to FSU and the hospital, the city’s deed restrictions require that FSU must maintain the property as a hospital in perpetuity.
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