The Williamson Health Board of Trustees (Board), the governing board of the independent, nonprofit, regional healthcare system based in Williamson County, unanimously voted on July 6th to proceed with achange of ownership to Ascension Saint Thomas. Board Chairman Bo Butler announced the decision to the Williamson County Board of Commissioners at a special called meeting on Monday, July 6. More Business News
If approved, the proposed transaction covers all assets and operations of the Williamson Health system, including the workforce, land, buildings, equipment and more for Williamson Medical Center, Bone and Joint Institute of Tennessee, Williamson Health Medical Group, Williamson Health Outpatient Imaging and Lab Services, as well as the Williamson Health Foundation (honoring all donor recognitions and requests made through transaction closing) and the continuation of Williamson Health Emergency Medical Services (EMS) through an interlocal agreement with the County. Ascension Saint Thomas expressed its praise for all aspects of Williamson Health’s operations, including its multiple clinical partnerships, and Williamson Health looks forward to many ongoing discussions about how to collaboratively continue elevating the services offered to the community.
In a letter to the community, Bo Butler, Chairman of the Williamson Health Board of Trustees, shared the following.
After more than two years of a thoughtful and thorough strategic planning process, the Williamson Health Board of Trustees (Board) has reached a decision on securing a strong and sustainable future for our health system.
Having reviewed multiple options – including all avenues by which Williamson Health could remain independent – the Board determined the best path forward is a change of ownership, specifically to join Ascension Saint Thomas, a well-respected, nonprofit health system with the ability and desire to help us advance our community-focused mission. Once the decision to sell Williamson Health was made, the Board unanimously voted to select Ascension Saint Thomas based on a variety of factors, including strong alignment on culture, mission and vision for the future.
The top priority for this entire process has always been – and continues to be – ensuring that Williamson Health continues to lead the way, strengthening our culture, clinical excellence and service to the community for generations to come. This means that every single part of the strategic planning process – from development of key goals and objectives that served as the foundation for the entire process, to comprehensive industry research, data analysis, meaningful stakeholder discussions and meetings, the exploration of potential independent pathways and the implementation of a Request for Proposals (RFP) and submissions review – the focus has always been doing what is best for our patients, employees, medical staff and the community at large.
When we publicly announced this process nearly a year ago, the Board was united in its desire to remain independent – while also honoring its fiduciary duty to examine every option thoroughly and in good faith. As our community continues to grow and healthcare continues to evolve, the Board knew it must thoughtfully prepare for what comes next. That commitment led to our comprehensive strategic planning process, which was designed to strengthen our mission, support our people and ensure we can meet the future needs of our community.
Ensuring that Williamson Health is able to continue its mission well into the future has required that we fully understand the many significant challenges facing the healthcare industry. These challenges include evolving regulatory changes on a national and state level, industry-wide staffing and supply chain pressures and community health needs that require us to be in the position to accelerate the execution of short-term and long-term operational and strategic growth opportunities that will require significant capital and other resources for execution. The reality of securing enough capital on our own is simply unrealistic and insurmountable for most independent health systems like Williamson Health.
As such, what started as a prospect that no one wanted to even consider has turned into the possibility of a future filled with even greater promise. The Board is encouraged and inspired by Ascension Saint Thomas’ plans for building on Williamson Health’s tremendous success and forging an even more promising future together for our patients, our employees, our medical staff and our community.
I have presented the Board’s decision to the Williamson County Board of Commissioners, which must ultimately approve the sale. Over the next several weeks, Williamson Health and Ascension Saint Thomas will be working collaboratively with our teams of advisors and legal counsel, including the County Commission’s legal counsel, to draft a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) that will be presented to the County Commission for approval.
Generally, an announcement of intent for a proposed sale would not be made without having a signed LOI in place. However, due to Williamson Health’s Private Act Hospital District status and our desire to involve the County Commission in the development of the LOI – not just the Definitive Agreement – we are announcing the Board’s decision to move forward. As such, finalized details are not available to share at this point, but Ascension Saint Thomas made it abundantly clear through its proposal and subsequent meetings that it is fully committed to nurturing and investing in our unique culture, talented and dedicated workforce and our community-focused mission, as well as honoring our legacy brand. When the appropriate time arrives, we look forward to sharing definitive details of the proposed transaction as well as our post-closing plans.
It is yet to be determined how long the required regulatory approvals will take, but it will likely be at least sometime in the 2027 or 2028 calendar years before a transaction is complete. In the meantime, Williamson Health will continue to operate independently, just as we do today and with the same commitment to our mission of caring for our patients while also supporting and investing in our team members.
Additional information surrounding the comprehensive strategic planning process that led to this decision is contained within the “About Us/Board of Trustees” section of the WilliamsonHealth.org website. I hope that you will spend some time reading through the content and even sharing the link with friends, family and neighbors so we are all speaking from the single source of truth on this very important and emotional endeavor.
It is important for me to note that, on behalf of the entire Board, we express a deep gratitude to the community for your long-standing and continued support of and advocacy for Williamson Health. Everyone from the Board and the leadership team to the front-line staff consider it a privilege to care for this community. We truly believe that Williamson Health is a special place. Our greatest strength is found not in our buildings, technology or accolades, but in the people who bring our mission to life every day.
As such, I want to also strongly reinforce that the achievements Williamson Health proudly offers today, including our recent CMS 5-Star rating, are a direct reflection of the dedication, hard work and unwavering focus on providing exceptional care that our employees and medical staff exhibit every day. Throughout this process, the Board has been steadfastly focused on fiercely protecting and figuring out how to continue investing in our people, which in turn greatly benefits the community.
We appreciate your patience and support during the past year of uncertainty, which we realize sometimes led to concern and confusion. While I wish we had more final details to offer today, we are committed to sharing more as soon as we can. In the meantime, we ask for your continued trust as we continue to work toward an even brighter future.
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