Nashville, Tenn.-based Meharry Medical College reached a deal with the Nashville city government that will pay the college $6.3 million in rent this year to house Nashville General Hospital, The Tennessean reported Dec. 9.
The rent costs will increase by 2.5 percent yearly until the lease ends in 2027. Currently, the city pays $4 million annually to cover the hospital's underlying bonds issued in 1995. Meharry Medical College does not receive any of that money.
The deal, which still needs approval from the Metro Council, does not affect existing city subsidies used to support the hospital. Nashville General's leadership has broached the idea of relocation. However, Meharry and city officials have yet to endorse the project.
"I am proud to renew Nashville's firm commitment to the nation's oldest and largest historically black medical institution and to our safety net hospital Nashville General," Nashville Mayor John Cooper said in a prepared statement. "Meharry and Nashville General are at the center of our efforts to address health disparities in Nashville, and this new agreement sets the stage for that work to grow stronger in 2023."