FAMU trustees to discuss role that has become a sticking point in TMH-FSU hospital deal

The Florida A&M University Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting to discuss plans for a new academic medical center. Those plans call for a 17-member hospital board that doesn't include Rattler representation, which has become something of a sticking point for some city commissioners.

The meeting will be held Friday, Oct. 10 at 5 p.m. with the sole purpose of going over the agreement between Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and Florida State University. The agenda provides no other details.

TMH and FSU recently signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding saying they'd further their partnership to create an academic medical center, but the deal hinges on the city's willingness to transfer the city-owned hospital property and assets to the university.

For some city leaders, turning the hospital over to the university may come down to the inclusion of FAMU in the deal.

Notice of FAMU's meeting came just days after City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox called for the HBCU, along with Tallahassee State College, to have representation in the hospital's new governance structure.

"I am glad that the board is talking and trying to find ways to collaborate," Williams-Cox told the Democrat in a phone call after the meeting was announced.

Williams-Cox said the root of the concern has been  losing FAMU hospita l in the early 1970s after an integrated TMH took over the hospital and ultimately closed it down.

"In the community, there is a great distrust," Williams-Cox said at the City Commission meeting. "But we can use what has happened in the past to help us make a better future by not repeating what has happened in the past."

On Oct. 5, she appeared on  a social media interview where she further pushed for FAMU and TCC to have a seat at the table."

FSU and TMH leaders expressed hesitation but also a willingness to consider this and adjust the current agreement. Williams-Cox said she's hoping it'll be woven into the deal without much pushback. She said it wasn't an ultimatum but she preferred "compliance" over "confrontation."

The Rev. R.B. Holmes, pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, has also been calling on the city, hospital and university to include FAMU and TSC at the table.

Holmes hosted a press conference a day before the city held its special meeting on the matter where he said the leaders have to ensure the community is protected and represented.

He proposed a governance structure split between seven board members representing TMH, six representing FSU, two representing FAMU, one representing TSC and one representing the Apalachee Center.

In light of the university's upcoming meeting, he told the Tallahassee Democrat in an interview that he wasn't in a position to comment what the board should do but FAMU must have a seat at the table if the institution wants to be at the table.

FAMU has the community's best interest in mind, he said, and he hopes they will play a "significant part" in the future of healthcare in Tallahassee.

"It's an extraordinary, exceptional vision to bring about an academic teaching hospital," Holmes said.

"This is a lifetime decision," he added. "If we do this right, it will save lives."

The university's new president Marva Johnson has already endorsed the deal though she did not specifically address the issue of board member representation. In a Sept. 30 letter to the campus community, she wrote "our university has enjoyed a long-standing and productive relationship with TMH, one that will continue to grow during my administration."

Johnson referenced the MOU specifically affirmed that the hospital and university would continue to maintain and expand its relationships with FAMU and TSC. Johnson said FAMU is "an essential partner in training the healthcare professionals of the future."

"Representation matters," she wrote. "The healthcare workforce of tomorrow must reflect the diversity of the communities it serves, and FAMU will continue to play a vital role in producing professionals who can reduce health disparities and deliver culturally competent care."

Local government watchdog reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at  ebarrera@tallahassee.com . Follow her on X:  @elenabarreraaa .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU board to discuss role in Tallahassee medical center deal