The UT Medical Center bill that has been bouncing back and forth through

the legislature will find a resting place on Gov. Don Sundquist’s desk

later this week.

Both the House and Senate have passed the bill, which will give UT’s Board

of Trustees the right to transform the hospital into a not-for-profit

organization, thus severing the ties between the university and the medical

center.

According to the bill, the board of trustees will choose a new, independent

board to make decisions regarding the hospital.

“The bill enables the UT Board of Trustees to study options which will

determine how the medical center will be operated in the future,” said Dr.

Charles Mercer, Executive Vice Chancellor of the UT Medical Center.

“These options include leaving the medical center as it is today, or

turning the medical center and its assets over to a non-profit corporation.

The bill does prohibit the sale or lease of the medical center,” Mercer

said.

Many hospital employees, afraid of losing the benefits provided by the

state, have been working diligently against the turnover.

In response to employee fear, legislators have amended the original draft

of the bill to include special fail-safes for current employees at the time

of the change.

The bill also provides compensation equal to that of the past to employees

affected by any layoffs or changes in employment status.

“For the past several years we have been reducing costs by offering early

retirement incentives, eliminating open job positions and closing

non-essential programs. We will continue to look at ways to reduce costs in

the future,” Mercer said.

Administrators say these practices will remain despite the ownership status

of the medical center.

According to UT President Joe Johnson, every effort is to be made to keep

employee benefits equal to or better than current benefits. These benefits

include retirement and insurance benefits and the 50 percent college

tuition discount for children of hospital employees.

Employees of the medical center are not the only ones who could possibly be

affected by the change. Through an agreement between the hospital and the

university, UT students are provided with after-hours and weekend care at

the medical center. Many students are uninsured aside from the care that

they receive through the university.

“It is too early to determine if this arrangement will be affected by the

change over,” Mercer said.

Those who are in favor of the bill feel it is imperative to sever state

ties to the medical center.

By making the hospital an independent entity, advocates feel that the

hospital will become more competitive in price and health care service in

the marketplace. Johnson said the passage of the bill will provide the

funds needed to run the hospital more efficiently and with the best and

most up-to-date medical technology available.