Frequently Asked Questions

For nearly 70 years, Williamson Health has been deeply rooted in this community – caring for neighbors, friends and families. As healthcare becomes increasingly more complex and challenging for independent nonprofit systems like Williamson Health, the organization is taking a thoughtful and proactive step to plan for the future. Williamson Health is exploring all options, including what it would take to remain independent and whether a potential sale might better position the system to serve the community we love. No final decisions have been made yet, and the goal is to do what is best for patients, staff and the community. Williamson Health is leading with transparency, guided by its mission, and committed to doing what is right for the long-term.

For decades, the Williamson Health Board of Trustees has been consistently reviewing all aspects of the organizations’s operations, including the long-term viability of remaining a nonprofit independent health care system. All healthcare organizations, especially independent nonprofits like Williamson Health, are currently facing very significant challenges in the ever-evolving healthcare environment. These include, among others, increased staffing issues; inadequate reimbursements from insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid and others; operating costs that are rising faster than revenues; shifts in care delivery models; erosion of high-margin services that help offset lower-margin services; and ongoing variability in the regulatory landscape, such as the legislative restructuring of Tennessee’s certificate of need program.

Dynamic, healthy organizations shape their futures through strategic planning, rather than allowing the future to shape them. If Williamson Health is not continually planning for the future, it cannot achieve its mission of “providing for the healthcare needs of our community.” This includes not only considering the needs of the community, but also examining those of the employees and medical staff who so generously and expertly give of their talents and dedication.

To ensure all possible options for maximizing our short-term health as well as our long-term viability were explored, Williamson Health formed a subcommittee of our Board of Trustees to explore the pathway to remaining independent, while also considering alternatives including a potential sale through a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The goal is to do what’s best for patients, staff and the community well into the future.

No, it is not. The Board has not decided to sell the system; the only decision made thus far has been to consider proposals as one of our options. We are in the discovery phase, not the decision phase.

The singular focus is on ensuring the long-term health and viability of Williamson Health so it can continue its important mission of providing care to the community and meeting the needs of a rapidly growing community, which requires access to sustainable funding resources.

As part of this process, Williamson Health is carefully assessing both short-term and long-term needs. This includes recruiting and retaining top healthcare professionals, maintaining momentum by expanding services, upgrading technology and equipment, and addressing other ongoing operational needs. To support these efforts, Williamson Health has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to explore all viable options for the health system’s future.

The strategic planning process also includes investigating additional sources of funding necessary to remain an independent, freestanding, nonprofit organization over the next five years.

The process is not simply about survival; it is about elevating and strengthening the foundation we have built, ensuring Williamson Health continues to serve the community with excellence and purpose for years to come.

We are good stewards of our finances and, even with the debt incurred with the recent expansion, we are quite healthy and comfortably making our loan payments each month. This action is driven by our assessment of short-term and long-term needs, specifically related to the challenges in the rapidly changing healthcare environment and the need to continue growing to meet the needs of our community – all of which require access to capital in a timely fashion.

With assistance from a third-party independent consultant, the subcommittee revised the financial projects for Williamson Health over the next five years based on operational and strategic growth opportunities. The data showed that, while Williamson Health is financially strong today, the system would need a significant capital infusion over the next five years to execute these important strategies and sustainably continue our mission. Unlike larger health systems – whether investor-owned or nonprofit – that can leverage shared resources to to support growth and infrastructure, Williamson Health operates as an independent nonprofit reinvesting its earnings into its people, technology, services and facilities. This investment model has helped Williamson Health remain the high-value, affordable provider for the community. As such, we simply do not have readily available funds needed to continue growing without support from external sources of funding.

Over the next several weeks, Williamson Health’s advisory firms, in collaboration with Williamson Health leadership, will develop a comprehensive Request for Proposal (RFP). As part of this process, definitive guidelines will be created that will determine qualified local, regional and national potential partners. The RFP will likely be issued in the next several weeks with a response window of 60 to 90 days. Once responses are received, a structured review process will begin, including narrowing the field and conducting thorough due diligence. These findings will be weighed against any viable independent strategies to determine whether the Williamson Health Board of Trustees will consider recommending a qualified partner. This evaluation is expected to unfold over several months.

Williamson Health is a nationally recognized and locally beloved health system that was born from a small community hospital and is now cemented as part of Williamson County’s story. For nearly seven decades, the people who make up Williamson Health have poured their hearts into caring for this community. And, because this special community – which was once a well-kept secret – is now experiencing an influx of new residents from across the country, Williamson Health’s mission of serving the healthcare needs of Williamson County will soon be challenged in ways never experienced before. This process is about ensuring the organization does not just survive; it is about elevating everything that has been built to date and continuing to serve this community with strength and purpose for generations to come.

If new ownership is determined to be the right path, this decision will not be because Williamson Health is giving something up, it will be because a win-win solution has been identified for the journey forward. This means we will have identified a way for the healthy system to thrive through growth and expanded services while also funding – through proceeds from the sale – a brand new, independent foundation that can support future community healthcare needs in ways that can hardly be imagined today. This is not a question of survival but of thriving well into the future with an organization that shares Williamson Health’s commitment to meeting and exceeding the expectations of the community.

The Williamson County Board of Commissioners will not have a day-to-day role in the process. Four County Comissioners, as well as the County Mayor, sit on the Williamson Health Board of Trustees and will be involved in the entire review process and any eventual recommendations. Updates on the process will be provided as necessary and ultimately any recommendation for a sale must be approved – or not – by the full County Commission.