Tallahassee City officials fielded questions about the conversations around selling Tallahassee Memorial Hospital to Florida State University during the Our Town panel discussion Thursday hosted by the Village Square and WFSU.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Tallahassee, and Florida State University are in preliminary discussions exploring the future of the hospital. The land,building and assets are currently owned by the city. FSU has expressed interest in buying it. TMH has pushed back on the idea.
During the panel, Commissioner Jeremy Matlow said he would not support a potential sale.
“The best outcome for healthcare in our community is keeping our hospital locally owned,” he said. “It's owned by the residents and the people of the City of Tallahassee, it always has been, and that gives us the ability to chart the future of health care in our community. I recognize that there have been some, dare I say, shady backroom antics, looking for a sale of the hospital or a giveaway of the hospital to Florida State University. I don't support that.”
Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox expressed being more open to a potential sale, saying she would support whatever option provides the best healthcare for the people of Tallahassee.
“What I want is to not to have to go somewhere else. I want to happen here in Tallahassee, high quality care. I don't care who does it, whoever is the best fit for our community. And when you have an asset, you should always be looking at how to leverage that asset to the best of the ability for those in the community who own it,” she said.
No official proposal has been released yet.