As part of a multi-year regional growth plan for the Vanderbilt Health system, Vanderbilt University Medical Center has filed a public notice with the State of Tennessee’s Health Services Development Agency and will seek approval to build a 48-bed, 154,000 square foot full service, acute care hospital in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The facility, with a construction start date yet to be determined, will be located on land owned by VUMC since 2017 that is located at the intersection of Veterans Parkway and S.R. 840.

In addition to plans for this facility, Vanderbilt Health has an increasing regional presence with Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital and more than 135 outpatient clinics and ambulatory surgical facilities located throughout Middle Tennessee, Southern Kentucky and Northern Alabama.

In December 2019, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital Vanderbilt Surgery and Clinics officially opened in Murfreesboro. The $27.2 million, 37,500 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility significantly expanded pediatric specialty care, outpatient surgery and imaging services for children in Rutherford and surrounding counties. Prior to the opening of this new facility, an estimated 200 children traveled from the area each day to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt campus in Nashville. The facility is staffed with approximately 80 employees, including physicians, nurses and additional staff.

The hospital’s projected cost of $134.4 million includes 48 licensed acute care beds and an additional eight observation beds. The project also seeks to include diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac catheterization services, along with neonatal intensive care services.

“Strategic growth for the Vanderbilt Health system is essential to our efforts to improve well-being throughout the region. The opportunity to serve the citizens of Murfreesboro and the Rutherford region through this new facility will allow us to provide a wider array of clinical services for the community and help support important aspects of our academic mission,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer for VUMC and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Murfreesboro and Rutherford County continue to be one of Tennessee’s and the nation’s fastest growing areas. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Rutherford County’s population has grown by 26.5% over the past decade and is the largest suburb in the Nashville MSA with a 2020 population of more than 337,000, according to the county’s Chamber of Commerce.

“We are excited to announce plans for this hospital because we already serve a very significant number of patients from the Rutherford County area at our Nashville campus. This project will greatly improve their convenience and ready access to care. We are continuing to invest in this vibrant region to help meet the expanding health care needs of its citizens,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer for VUMC.

The new facility would serve as a hub for Vanderbilt Health’s inpatient needs and support its growing list of ambulatory and outpatient surgical services already in Rutherford county.