Bill lets Williamson County commission use proceeds if Williamson Medical Center is sold; certificate-of-need changes discussed

Representative Jake McCelman told the Policy Talks audience he carried two bills related to Williamson Medical Center: one to permit the hospital to be sold and a companion measure to allow the county commission, by two-thirds vote, to allocate sale proceeds after debt service for local projects such as schools or a jail. "It would require a two-thirds vote of the county commission in order to utilize those proceeds," McCelman said, and he confirmed the governor has signed the legislation.

McCelman said the measures were introduced at the request of the county commission and designed to give local officials control over how the proceeds would be used after the hospital's debts are satisfied. "We passed that legislation because we were asked to pass it by the county commission by a two-thirds vote," he said.

Separately, legislators discussed recent changes to Tennessee's certificate-of-need rules. Senator Joey Hensley summarized legislation that phases out certificate-of-need requirements for many acute-care hospitals and imaging centers over the next two to three years while retaining certain exclusions such as nursing homes. "Basically doing away with the certificate of need...would be a couple years before all of that goes in place," he said.

The forum did not include formal local action; the representatives described the state legislation and its authorization of local decisionmaking if a sale occurs. Implementation of both hospital sale proceeds and certificate-of-need changes will depend on future administrative rules, local decisions and, where applicable, debt-service accounting.