FSU, TMH sign agreement to build new academic health center in Tallahassee
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Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare recently signed a memorandum of understanding to seal their partnership for a future academic health center in Tallahassee, slated to open in fall 2026.
Through the agreement, a new “FSU Health TMH Trustees” will oversee decisions related to the academic health center and a medical campus underway in Panama City Beach on behalf of the university and hospital.
The joint center’s governance structure will consist of five voting trustees appointed by FSU, including President Richard McCullough, who will serve as chair of the board; four additional voting trustees appointed by TMH, with TMH President and CEO Mark O’Bryant as a nonvoting member, and a vice provost for FSU Health as another nonvoting member.
The memorandum of understanding, or MOU, “is an important step in solidifying our relationship with TMH and establishing the basic operating and governance structure for our partnership as part of the FSU Health initiative,” McCullough said in a prepared statement.
FSU secured $125 million from the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis two years ago to build the health center, which will be a five-story building of up to 130,000 square feet.
The state-of-the-art facility — to be located on the northeast sector of TMH’s campus off Centerville Road — is expected to help FSU and TMH work toward their main goal of transforming the future of health care across the region during a time where North Florida continues to face a crucial shortage of professionals in the field.
FSU and TMH’s long-term partnership also consists of other initiatives such as the establishment of residency programs for psychiatry, internal medicine and general surgery.
“TMH has been working toward this goal of partnering with FSU to create an academic health center for almost 15 years,” O’Bryant said in a release. “This is a monumental step forward in our relationship, and I’m incredibly excited and proud of the work our teams have done.”
The not-for-profit board of trustees’ responsibilities will include supervising major strategic, research and clinical education decisions that need to be made regarding the new academic health center and the FSU Health initiative in Panama City Beach.
The memorandum says McCullough will automatically be the chair of the board for six years while each regular trustee — community members from the Tallahassee and Panama City Beach region — will serve a two-year term. A vice chair, who will also serve for two years, will be elected by the board.
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In addition, FSU and TMH will explore combining all the Tallahassee-based residency programs under a single Graduate Medical Education office with guidance from the board and will also develop Centers of Excellence in various clinical areas.
For the flow of funds, FSU will be responsible for the funding of education while TMH will spearhead the funding of clinical programs and services, according to the signed agreement.
As FSU and TMH hope for the center to be complete in the next two years, the conceptual design of the structure is in its final stages and the site is being cleared for construction to begin.
Read the memorandum of understanding between FSU and TMH:
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU, TMH sign memorandum of understanding for academic health center
