TMH, FSU College of Medicine in discussions to establish 'academic medical center'
Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare and Florida State University’s College of Medicine, which have worked closely since the college opened 20 years ago, are working on plans to expand that relationship.
The goal, which TMH has identified for several years in its strategic plan, is to partner with the FSU College of Medicine to become an academic medical center.
An academic medical center is a hospital that partners with teaching institutions to offer a combination of clinical care, research and education. Such partnerships are desired because they can lead to new technologies, therapies, and clinical trials not always available at other hospitals.
In November, a leading global consultant firm, Guidehouse, was hired by TMH to develop a blueprint on what would be involved in creating an academic medical center at TMH as well as defining the relationship between the hospital and the university and expanding that relationship beyond physician training.
The Guidehouse study also will address a governance structure, profile the graduate medical education programs and examine the clinical and research portfolios of each institution.
Mark O’Bryant, president and CEO of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, said both sides will determine the best approach to fund the initiative “as we move forward.”
He explained TMH and the FSU College of Medicine already have some shared cost relationships related to research, as well as partnerships in the training of medical students and several residency programs. He declined to say how much TMH is paying for the consultant's study.
"We’ve been working diligently on this for the past several months,” O’Bryant told the Democrat. “We’ve made significant progress and we’ll soon be able to advance that to our TMH board.”
O’Bryant said he plans to share details of the Guidehouse study to the TMH board on April 28, when he is seeking its approval to move forward in planning.
“Even though we have been working together the last 15 to 20 years, this will give us a formal plan that will drive how we advance,” O’Bryant said of TMH and the FSU College of Medicine.
Thrasher told the Tallahassee Democrat that if approved, the development of the academic medical center would evolve over the next five to 10 years.
A key component would be an expansion of research collaborations between the FSU campus and TMH that would be of benefit to both entities as well as the community, he said.
“The driver is to give us a broader experience for research, for our students to have more residencies, to impact the entire university in terms of research development on the medical side, but have other things, too, engineering, social issues, things like that we can work with TMH on, that would be of benefit to both of us, particularly in the terms of research and our students’ ability to have a broader opportunity at a teaching hospital,” Thrasher said.
While specific details are still being worked out, Thrasher said, “the point is, we’re having really constructive conversations and moving ahead that idea and concept.”
College of Medicine has many affiliations
The FSU College of Medicine affiliates with more than 180 health-care organizations across Florida, including dozens of hospitals.
TMH has been one of the College of Medicine’s educational affiliate hospitals since the college opened.
Third- and fourth-year medical students and Physician Assistant students from the college’s Tallahassee regional campus do required and elective rotations with the physicians on the medical staff and the College of Medicine sponsors two residency programs at TMH – internal medicine and general surgery.
Capital Regional Medical Center is also an affiliate hospital for the regional campus, as is Archbold Medical Center in Thomasville.
“This plan will increase the present partnership with TMH to develop additional needed residency programs in Tallahassee, and will create opportunities to develop a strong clinical research partnership to advance clinical and translational projects for the clinical investigators at TMH and the basic and clinical science researchers at the university,” FSU College of Medicine Dean Dr. John P. Fogarty said in an email.
Three influential and intertwined entities — The St. Joe Co., Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and FSU’s College of Medicine — intend to build a health care campus in Panama City Beach, marking TMH’s first operation in Bay County.
The news was announced late Thursday in a release from St. Joe. The health campus is planned to complement the Latitude Margaritaville Watersound community, a “55-and-better community” underway by St. Joe and its partners.
The initial plan calls for 3,500 homes stretching from near Panama City Beach to South Walton County. It is part of St. Joe’s Bay-Walton Sector Plan that encompasses approximately 110,500 acres with approximately 15 miles of frontage on the Intracoastal Waterway.
FSU President John Thrasher updated the university’s Board of Trustees on the proposal last week, saying a joint proposal submitted in February had been accepted, allowing for planning to move forward.
The health care campus is planned for an 87-acre parcel near State Highway 79 and Phillip Griffitts Sr. Parkway, close to the Latitude Margaritaville Watersound community.
The letter of intent involves the three parties planning and developing the campus to initially include an ambulatory and urgent care center, according to the release. The land is being provided by the St. Joe Company. Groundbreaking could begin sometime next year.
Future development includes building an Emergency Center and 100-bed inpatient medical center offering services such as gastroenterology, urology, gynecology, cardiology and general surgery among others.
It will be overseen by a governing board.
“Convenient access to quality health care services is vital to the success of a growing region," said Jorge Gonzalez, President and CEO of St. Joe Company and a member of FSU’s Board of Trustees.
"The creation of this planned health care campus will enhance the quality of life for local residents and provide tremendous opportunities for the entire region."
This will mark TMH’s first presence in Bay County. It currently serves 17 counties in Florida and Georgia.
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