Nashville General Hospital is facing turmoil: What to know as it searches for a new CEO

Yahoo

19-03-2025

Nashville General Hospital has served as the city's safety net hospital for decades but recently has been the center of controversies and upheaval.
Last month, then-hospital CEO Joseph Webb, at the helm for a decade, sent a letter on Feb. 26 announcing he was stepping down to members of the Metro Nashville Hospital Authority Board, which oversees the hospital.
His decision came amid allegations of mismanagement, nepotism and bullying and one day after board members, who serve on a committee charged with evaluating the CEO's performance, voted 3-0 to recommend to the full board not to renew Webb's contract.
Here's what you should know about the hospital during this time of transition.
Nashville General Hospital, located in North Nashville on Meharry Medical College's campus, has cared for generations of families − including paying patients and those who can't afford to pay.
It serves as the index hospital for Meharry, one of the nation's oldest and largest historically Black academic health science centers. That partnership includes employing college faculty and medical students for on-the-job learning at the teaching hospital.
Nashville taxpayers help fund the hospital. Every fiscal year, Metro Council members decide how much to reimburse Nashville General for caring for indigent residents. Last year, that figure neared $60 million.
A day after Webb announced he was leaving, the Metro Nashville Office of Internal Audit released a scathing report alleging the hospital paid millions for contracts without proper board approval, overpaid a valet company more than $281,000 for hours that weren't worked and falsified contracts to mislead reporters while responding to public records requests. Webb said he hadn't seen the audit findings before it was made public, but he and his staff had been interviewed by auditors and knew the report was coming.
Hours after the release of the audit report, the full hospital oversight board voted not to renew Webb's contract.
Webb claimed his decision to leave had nothing to do the with audit or allegations and he told board members they should do more research "before you prosecute this administration."
Webb left office March 14, more months before his contract was due to expire at the end of June.
The allegations contained in the audit weren't Webb's only problem.
At the start of the year, he had plans to continue at the helm. He told The Tennessean during a January interview about his vision for a new state-of-the art medical center spread out across 20 to 25 acres, at an undetermined location off Meharry's campus. He estimated it could cost between $500-700 million.
The problem: the current Hospital Authority Board and Mayor Freddie O'Connell hadn't signed off on Webb's plan. Neither had Meharry, which supplies medical students and some faculty. Also, Metro Council members hadn't approved either the land or the cost of building the hospital, something some feared would climb closer to $1 billion.
Webb's troubles didn't end there.
Webb had pushed for Metro government to donate land and to allow the hospital to take over part of the Ted Rhodes Golf Course and nearby soccer fields. He pointed to findings by two consultants who agreed that was the best place to locate a large new medical facility. But again, Webb didn't have enough support.
The hospital leases an aging building from Meharry, a contract that expires in two years. Some members of the hospital oversight board said they're not convinced the hospital should move off the college's campus.
Several board members repeatedly mentioned concerns about the strained relationship between Webb and Meharry.
Webb told The Tennessean there was "no friction" between him and Dr. James Hildreth, president of Meharry, or other college leaders.
The fallout from a Jan. 30 letter Webb wrote to Hildreth suggested it was more of a chasm. Webb's tone seemed polite, saying "the community is crying out" for the two of them to sit down and discuss the partnership between the hospital and the college. But Webb also sent copies of the letter to more than 20 elected leaders, including the mayor, Metro Nashville Council members and hospital oversight board members.
Hildreth's response was more direct, highlighting several "real" issues that won't be helped by merely talking. Meharry officials claim the hospital owes them more than $7 million, something Webb denied.
Hildreth noted Webb's refusal to finalize a standard "physicians services agreement" or professional services agreement to outline physicians' services and compensation.
Outside Nashville General's emergency room, a message on the windows touts there is no wait to be treated.
That may sound like a good thing from a patient's perspective, but city leaders and the hospital authority board have voiced concerns that the hospital isn't treating enough patients, who often end up in the emergency rooms of other area hospitals. That caused some to question whether it was living up to its mission to care for indigent residents, especially at at time when Webb publicly discussed his vision for a much larger, costly medical center.
The average daily patient population ranges from 30 to 50, even though the hospital is licensed for 150 beds. Webb said the current hospital only has room for 83 patients.
Nashville's mayor has repeatedly vowed to support the hospital and to offer city resources to search for a new CEO.
During an emergency meeting March 10, the hospital oversight board announced that Chief Nursing Officer Veronica Elders will serve as acting manager as a search for an interim CEO and then permanent CEO gets underway.
The board discussed the importance of including residents and Meharry in the decision to select the hospital's next leader.
Beth Warren covers health care and can be reached at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville General Hospital: What to know amid CEO search