Meharry Medical College, a historically black medical school in Nashville, Tenn., underwent a process to renovate and merge the school's teaching facility, Hubbard Hospital, with the city's Metro General Hospital between June 1992 and January 1996.

The merger was designed to help stabilize Meharry financially. The city of Nashville would continue to operate the consolidated hospital, with Meharry providing all staffing and leadership.

Before this project began Meharry and the U.S. Public Health Service established a joint task force to address problems associated with the proposed merger and the medical school.

Key Results

• With the help of the task force, Meharry recruited 56 new board-eligible or board-certified physicians to staff the merged facility, as stipulated in an agreement with the city of Nashville.
• The task force also helped Meharry implement a number of financial and management initiatives designed to ensure the merger's success.
• Meharry met several performance benchmarks. It:
  • Developed a new more viable medical school faculty practice plan.
  • Developed a health service strategic plan to market care.
  • Created a detailed merger action plan between the public and academic partners.
  • Secured additional funding.

The merged hospital opened in January 1998 and was leased by the city and staffed by Meharry.

Funding
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) supported the project with three grants totaling $1,084,999.