Community leaders urge Hospital Authority to keep CEO, fund new full-service Nashville General

At the Jan. 30 meeting of the Hospital Authority Board of Nashville and Davidson County, a string of physicians, clergy and elected officials urged the board to maintain Nashville General Hospital as a full-service hospital and to retain the current executive leadership while moving forward on a new facility.

Dr. Cenovis, identified in public comment as a general surgeon and chief of surgery at National General Hospital, praised the hospital’s recent quality gains and equipment upgrades and said they illustrate “the need for a new hospital.” Dr. Andrew Pierre, a foot-and-ankle surgeon and chair of the Middle Tennessee Health Partners board, told the board the current building “is extremely old” and said the hospital’s leadership has worked to expand services for underserved patients.

Matthew Katz, chief medical officer and ophthalmologist, said he has been empowered by hospital leadership to expand services and called for the physician voice to be considered in the CEO evaluation underway. Lori Donnell, senior vice president of health affairs at Meharry Medical College, reintroduced Meharry’s partnership and said the college is re-engaging with the hospital as “Meharry’s key index hospital.”

Community leaders amplified that theme. Daniel Smith, pastor of Christian Journey Fellowship, said Nashville General provides care “no matter where they fall on the economic ladder” and warned that converting the hospital to an ambulatory-only model would increase costs and reduce access for low‑income patients. Brenda Gilmore, former Metro councilmember, state representative and state senator, urged the board to “commit to creating a healthier, more equitable Nashville” by supporting a new full-service hospital and maintaining current executive staff.

Amanda Ciccone, on behalf of the Metro Council minority caucus, read a letter expressing the caucus’s support for Nashville General as an essential safety-net hospital. Several speakers credited measures of quality and safety cited in the meeting packet — including a recent Leapfrog grade and accreditation actions referenced by public speakers — as reasons to preserve and expand the hospital’s inpatient capacity.

Speakers repeatedly tied the hospital’s mission to care for uninsured and indigent patients and asked the board to consider equity and access in any structural change.

The board did not take immediate formal action on the public comments; the remarks were entered into the public record and the meeting proceeded to its agenda items.