CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Dozens of elected officials, business leaders, doctors, nurses and community supporters gathered at Boyd’s Pumpkin Patch on Wednesday to celebrate and support its planned transformation into the campus of Ascension Saint Thomas Clarksville.
That included the Boyd family, which is looking to honor the legacy of the late Dr. A.R. Boyd, who spent part of his career working at Saint Thomas in Nashville from his practice in Clarksville.
“I’ve been blessed to farm this land for 49 years and I cannot think of any other way it could be better used or of greater service to the community for years to come,” said Dr. Boyd’s son Keith Boyd. “I have no doubt my father would be extremely pleased to see this faith-based, not-for-profit hospital bring top level health care to the citizens of this community.”
Several speakers paid tribute to the Boyd family in attendance. That included Dr. Boyd’s wife, Demetra, who has lived in the family farm home for over 50 years, and children Keith, Lee and Diana. Saint Thomas Ascension Chief Strategy Officer Robyn Morrissey talked with emotion of Mrs. Boyd showing her a picture of herself standing in front of Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville when she was only 3 years old.
On May 15, Ascension Saint Thomas, a Nashville faith-based, nonprofit hospital system, announced their plan for a full-service hospital at the site. The facility, located on 96 acres near the intersection of Highway 76 and Interstate 24, east of Exit 11, will include 44 inpatient beds, with the ability to expand to 132 beds in the future.
Health more important than ‘silver and gold’
In praising the hospital’s plan, Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts cited Scripture with a passage from Proverbs 22:1: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” He said that with this project, the Boyd family name will be remembered as a “great benefactor” to the good of the community.
As for Ascension Saint Thomas, “for more than 125 years, they have been providing high quality health care and are a standard-bearer of quality health care and healing,” Pitts said.
Pitts alluded to the importance of this hospital being faith-based and not-for-profit: “Our community cares more about people and their spiritual, physical and emotional health than silver and gold.”
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Ascension Saint Thomas President and CEO Fahad Tahir spoke of the process for opening a new hospital and said, “There’s a right way to do this,” involving listening to the doctors, the community, the local leaders, and then “we shape our health system, our hospital, and our ministry to serve our community.” In Clarksville, that will particularly mean hearing and understanding the unique needs of veterans, their families, and the Fort Campbell community.
“More doctors, employers, health care organizations choose us than any other health system in Middle Tennessee,” Tahir said, emphasizing their expertise with cardiac care and birth. “We’re grateful for that, and we’re grateful for the efforts people make to travel to Nashville to choose us – but they shouldn’t have to.”
Tahir has pointed out that 2 in 3 Clarksville surgery patients travel to Nashville for care, and 1 in 2 Clarksville babies are born in Nashville hospitals.
‘Clarksville is being held back’
Dr. Cooper Beazley, a surgeon at Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance, whose office is across the highway from the site, said his relationship with Ascension Saint Thomas goes back to his father, Dr. Luther Beazley, who was chief of staff at Saint Thomas in the 1960s.
“They give back. They don’t take. They’re very generous with their time and services,” Beazley said. “They will treat anybody who walks in the door. They do it gladly and with a cheerful heart. And that’s hard to do.”
He spoke of Saint Thomas conducting the first open heart surgery in Nashville, and how “people thought they were crazy.” “If they come here, if they build a hospital here, you’re going to see physician services that are available go through the roof,” Beazley said. “The goal is to provide equivalent services here to what you get in Nashville.”
Beazley spoke bluntly of the current condition of healthcare locally: “Clarksville is being held back because we don’t have the medical system that we need.” He urged residents to show up at the Certificate of Need hearing on July 23, because community support will make a difference.
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Dr. Mark Muiznicks, a local emergency medical physician, said of hearing about the Ascension Saint Thomas announcement, “I’ve received better news in my life, I just can’t remember when.” He spoke of how frustrated he’s been during the the COVID pandemic and 2023 tornado in Clarksville. In both cases, he told himself, “I would love to have another quality facility in this community.”
“This is our window to do this, with a faith-based, community-driven hospital,” Muiznicks said. “The time is now.”
Two weeks after the Ascension Saint Thomas announcement, TriStar Health, part of HCA Healthcare, announced it is also seeking approval for a Clarksville hospital, this one a 68-bed full service hospital with an ER on Tiny Town Road.
The CON hearing for the Ascension Saint Thomas and TriStar requests will be Wednesday, July 23, at 9 a.m. at 425 N. Representative John Lewis Way, Senate Hearing Room I, Cordell Hull State Legislative Building, Nashville. The meeting is open to the public.
| PREVIOUSLY:
- Tennova Healthcare announces plan to build new satellite hospital next to current ER in Sango
- Why Clarksville’s 2 new hospitals aren’t done deal: Certificate of Need process just starting
- Clarksville Conversations: Ascension Saint Thomas’ Fahad Tahir on plans for new hospital | PODCAST
- TriStar plans to bring 68-bed hospital to Tiny Town Road, state hearing date announced | PHOTOS
- Ascension Saint Thomas plans full-service hospital with ER northeast of Exit 11