Murfreesboro will soon have a facility that does open heart surgery. The Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency has granted Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford approval of its Certificate of Need application to add adult open heart surgery to its well-established cardiac program. Hospital officials say the new unit will fill a gap and make heart surgery more available between Nashville and Chattanooga.
The application was heavily supported by the local community as well as by civic and business organizations, including physician groups, MTSU, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Maury Regional Medical Center, Unity Medical Center and local and state government officials. The physician recruitment phase of the program will begin later this year.
Ascension Saint Thomas will invest more than $5.6 million in its Rutherford hospital to establish the open heart surgery program. Existing cardiac surgery clinical pathways and protocols in place in Nashville will be used to develop a high-quality program at Rutherford.
Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford is currently accredited with the Joint Commission and will continue to comply with the standards of the American College of Cardiology, the American Hospital Association and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.