Rutherford Hospital / Middle Tennessee Medical Center

Rutherford Hospital: On May 2, 1927, Rutherford Hospital opened to serve both whites and African-Americans. Simeon B. Christy, a local merchant, obtained funding for the hospital from the Commonwealth Fund of New York. The fund paid $161,620 for construction of the hospital, chartered as a general welfare private corporation. Frank K. Houston, a Woodbury, TN native and a New York banker, also was a benefactor of the hospital. The hospital received accreditation from the American College of Surgeons in 1929. Middle Tennessee Medical Center: In 1982 the hospital's named changed to Middle Tennessee Medical Center. In 1986 St. Thomas and Baptist hospitals of Nashville bought MTMC for $40,000,000; this was the first hospital in the U.S. to be jointly owned by Catholic and Protestant institutions. Christy-Houston foundation was trustee of the fund created by this sale. MTMC, owned by Ascension Health, relocated to 1700 Medical Center Parkway in 2010. The original hospital was razed in 2012. In 2013 the institution became St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital.