SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Regional One Health needs an upgrade. You've probably heard that before. Some leaders have talked about this since at least 2017.
According to Shelby County documents obtained by ABC24, the one million square foot campus has six buildings:
- Rout Women’s Hospital – 65 years old
- Power Plant and Laundry – 80 years old
- Chandler – 59 years old
- Medplex – 27 years old
- Turner Tower – 30 years old
- Jefferson Pavilion – 40 years old
Half of them are more than 50 years old, which is past the normal lifespan of a healthcare building, according to the documents.
Monday, August 29th current Shelby County Commissioners have one last chance to do something about it during their term. There's a multi-million-dollar resolution on the table. It’s a five year, capital improvement project sponsored by at least six county commissioners. Commissioner Van Turner, District 12, is one of them.
“I think it's clear that there is motivation among this current term of commissioners to do something,” said Turner. “As we all know, the buildings, they're very aged. We need to update those buildings and make them suitable, for the type of world class care, Regional One gives."
Regional One Health is the only Level One trauma center in the Mid-South.
But according to documents obtained by ABC24, the main campus has "physical plant challenges that pose significant risk to the long-term viability of the health system."
Documents state:
"The buildings do not meet current seismic standards."
"The layout and design is not compatible with 21st century medicine, and the campus has "a 75 year old power plant."
“We're trying to put together a plan, as you know, this is a multi-million dollar ask," said Turner.
The cost of the entire project at is, is about $700 million dollars. Leaders say regional one will cover half, and the County is responsible the other $350 million. Turner explained why.
“From, you know, the time that I got on the commission, until now, we were always told that we owned a certain portion of the builders there,” said Turner. “That's why we have to repair those builders, builders and keep those buildings up to date."
But at what cost to the County or tax-payers?
“We're hoping that we can take out loans and issue what we call the addition of bonds,” said Turner. “Raising taxes will be the last resort."
This could be Turner and the Commissions last chance to discuss or possibly vote on the resolution. Six newly elected commissioners will be sworn in on September 1st.
“What we're trying to do is put something forth, that the new Commission can pick up and run with when they are sworn in,” said Turner.
The commission needs a vote of 7 people to pass the resolution. According to Turner, he's hopeful this matter will be finalized and concluded Monday, August 19th. The meeting starts at 3pm.
We'll continue to update this story when more details become available.