Days after Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced it would seek approval to build a 42-bed hospital in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital announced its own 58-bed expansion on its campus in Murfreesboro, according to the Daily News Journal.
Murfreesboro-based Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital said Sept. 16 it plans to invest $110 million to expand its campus. The project would increase the hospital's licensed bed count to 416, up from 358. The project's estimated completion is the end of 2024.
"We are really excited about this," Gordon Ferguson, president and CEO of Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford, told the Daily News Journal. "This investment will allow us to bring higher acuity services to our patients, including open heart surgery, Level II trauma services and proposed higher level neonatal care."
Ascension's proposal followed Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center announcing plans to build a $144.3 million, 42-bed hospital on the west side of Murfreesboro.
Ascension opposes the 42-bed Vanderbilt hospital as it is also building an eight-bed hospital on the west side of Murfreesboro.