FSU Includes FAMU in Agreement, City Votes 3-2 to Move Forward. Matlow & Porter Vote No

On Wednesday, October 22, the Tallahassee City Commission voted 3-2 to hold a final public hearing about transferring the city owned hospital assets to Florida State University.

Commissioner Jeremy Matlow and Commissioner Jack Porter, who voted no, continued to indicate they are not interested in moving forward with the agreement approved by the parties, despite changes to the governance structure proposed by FSU.

At stake is the move to a healthcare delivery model that has been adopted across the U.S. in many cities as the most efficient approach to improve healthcare and take advantage of the financial benefits in a rapidly growing industry sector.

Before the vote, the two main issues discussed related to the governance structure detailed in the recently MOU signed by FSU and TMH and the valuation of the assets that would be transferred to FSU under the agreement.

On the governance issue, FSU President Richard McCullough said during the meeting FAMU and FSU had reached an agreement that would give FAMU one seat on the governing board of the new academic health center.

McCullough explained that “FAMU will have one voting director on the TMH board of directors who will be part of the FSU recommended board members. The first two years of affiliation, the director will be a FAMU employee, and after that, the first two years, FAMU will provide a pool of candidates to FSU and FSU will pull from that pool to be nominated by the TMH board as a FAMU director.”

McCullough says he recognizes the future of the hospital and access to care is a serious matter for the community. “This is not a game. We’re not making this stuff up. Okay, this is stuff we really are going to do. And whatever you read or whatever somebody is say[1]ing, they’re just wrong, they’re just wrong. This is what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to do something and be a good partner to the city, to TMH, to FAMU and TSC,” he said.

Amid a tense back and forth between Commissioner Matlow and FSU President Richard McCullough, McCullough indicated there are limits to his patience in dealing with those who appear committed to scuttling the agreement. McCullough told Matlow FSU has no intention of reopening the MOU with TMH for further negotiations. He explained concerns about governance will be addressed with amendments to the original agreement. FAMU officials offered public support to this approach.

Porter joined Matlow in opposition to moving forward. “We could say we want a 10 to 7 governance structure, community seats versus academically appointed seats. We could say and we want residency requirements for all board seats we could say, and we want to memorialize the first right of refusal so that if FSU decides ever which they want to sell, that we have the right to buy it back. We could request a more fleshed out plan for indigent care. These are all things we could be ask[1]ing for, but we haven’t yet,” she said.

However, Mayor John Dailey stated at the meeting that a final decision was not being made and won’t be made until all the details are on the table. “The final meeting will have all the finished documents before us. That’s the final decision. This is just the next step in the process. I don’t want to get in position where we’re trying to pigeon toe Florida State, FAMU, TCC, or TMH, for that matter, right now, because we have recognized and have stated on the record that these negotiations are moving forward,” he said.

However, this was not enough to garner support from Matlow and Porter.

The valuation of the city owned assets was also discussed at the meeting. The agenda item provided various approaches to valuing the assets. The city commission vote provided direction to City Manager Reese Goad to continue negotiations over the coming weeks and determine what type of consideration – funds and/or services – the city will receive for the transfer of the assets to FSU. The final public hearing will happen when all the parties finalize their agreements