WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A medication mix-up that left at least one patient paralyzed at Ascension St. Thomas Midtown is now fueling debate in Williamson County over whether to move forward with a $950 million deal to sell Williamson Health to the same hospital system.
In July, the Williamson Health hospital board recommended selling the hospital to Ascension St. Thomas. The county would stand to make $700 million from the deal, pending county commission approval.
The property committee was tasked with voting to move a letter of intent to the next step. If the full commission recommends the county mayor sign it, some commissioners believe it would allow the county to investigate the hospital — including risk management issues — before approving the sale. Others fear it will lock the county into a deal that needs more time vetting.
Commissioner-elect Jody Todd said:
"I'm concerned even about signing a preliminary agreement with the TBI state investigating."
Outgoing Commissioner Lisa Hayes raised questions about the urgency of the deal.
"We keep talking about time is of the essence. Are we concerned that Ascension is going to pull out or because of the recent issues that they may drop out? I'm curious why it's such a rush," Hayes said.
Commissioner Brian Clifford said the letter of intent would open the door to a deeper review.
"This LOI would give us the opportunity to do much better and deeper investigation into any issue we want to look at including that with risk analysis for patient care things like that," Clifford said.
In a statement, Clifford added:
"The vote to move the letter of intent forward is not a vote to finalize the sale; it is a vote to put Williamson County in the strongest possible position to conduct the due diligence we need to protect our patients, employees and taxpayers... Given the recent concerns involving Ascension, this LOI and the related process will actually allow us to better investigate those issues, understand the risks and require answers before the County ever considers a final agreement."
Commissioner Barb Sturgeon questioned why only one potential buyer was being given a platform.
"What about questions? We wanna ask HCA — we're only giving the stage to Ascension and I have questions of HCA," Sturgeon said.
In a statement, Sturgeon said:
"What's a clear red flag here is that TN state regulators determined these recent catastrophic failures at Ascension were the result of systemic errors that include the managing governing body. This isn't a one time error by an individual, it is systemic. Regulators stated a culture of overall noncompliance. While Williamson County would certainly benefit from $700 million from a sale to Ascension it's not worth it if it means risking the health of our community. This is why we should slow down the process and consider all options available to us while evaluating all relevant information."
Hayes also expressed concern about the hospital's recent track record.
"Why would I wanna go to a hospital where we're in a hurry to partner and have a reputation maybe besmirched by a hospital that this is not a basic process admitting drugs to someone in a surgery and causing paralysis — this is not minor by any stretch so it concerns me greatly," Hayes said.
Citizen Bruce Dayton was direct in his assessment of Ascension St. Thomas.
"They clearly failed," Dayton said.
The committee voted to move the discussion of the letter of intent to the full commission in a special called meeting on September 9 — the first meeting for 9 new commissioners and new Mayor Andy Marshall.
"Time is of the essence to make sure you get the maximum value for the sale, so I'm not opposed to taking this on," Marshall said.
Mayor-elect Marshall did not reply in time for this report.
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