Mayor Pauses Plan For Nashville General Hospital

NASHVILLE, TN -- Metro Mayor Megan Barry apologized to the Metro Council in a letter Thursday, saying she was wrong not to engage stakeholders before her surprise announcement calling for an end to inpatient care at Nashville General, the city's only public hospital. Now, she's delaying a decision on changing General's mission until at least the end of 2018.

"My announcement in November 2017 was meant to be positive and a starting point for a broader stakeholder conversation about the future of indigent care in Nashville," Barry wrote. "Obviously this has not occurred as intended and I'm sorry I didn't engage you and other stakeholders before the announcement was made."

In November, Barry said Nashville General would transition out of inpatient care and into an ambulatory surgery center. The mayor said she also planned to create an indigent-care fund to ensure people who use Nashville General will continue to have their care provided either through General or other area hospitals.

But that proposal came as a shock to councilmembers and others and led to intense blowback, a rare political misstep for the mayor, who has largely been successful in getting her proposals through the council.

In her most recent letter, Barry called for a "reset" to the conversation around the hospital, a move welcomed by critics of her original proposal, though she warned that the hospital's status quo cannot continue indefinitely.

Metro Government has provided nearly a half-billion dollars in subsidies for General's operations since 2005.

Photo via Office of the Mayor