BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Blount County Commissioners met Tuesday for a workshop to discuss proposals that are expected to be voted on during the commission's upcoming regular session on March 21. Three proposals focused on an ongoing controversy with Blount Memorial Hospital, which resulted after several months of disputes.
The first proposal would approve an amended charter agreement between the county and Blount Memorial Hospital, Inc. The agreement would give BMH the authority to manage and oversee the county's only major hospital. It would implement a nine-person board of directors, mostly made up of people approved by elected bodies in Blount County, Maryville and Alcoa.
Those people would be nominated by a nominating committee also made up of leaders from both the hospital and the county. It would allow directors to be removed by a two-thirds vote of their appointing body. Directors would be appointed for up to three, three-year terms.
The proposed charter agreement comes after almost two years of controversy between the county and Blount Memorial Hospital. It started in June 2022, when Blount County leaders wrote the hospital a letter saying they had concerns with how the hospital's former CEO was chosen — Dr. Harold Naramore. Leaders also spoke about concerns regarding the sale of a property in Alcoa.
Later in December 2022, BMH filed a lawsuit that asked for a ruling to allow BMH to proceed with plans to sell a facility in the Springbrook area for around $22.2 million. It was opened in 1996 and provided outpatient care, as well as other healthcare services, according to a press release from the hospital. According to the lawsuit, the sale was meant to "relieve its current financial strain."
BMH argued the sales were within its rights, and the money would be used to shore up its tight budget. Months of dispute followed, and county leaders brought more concerns about the hospital's leadership. In May 2023, a state law was passed that explicitly allowed Blount County to change the hospital's leadership.
The hospital then filed another lawsuit against the county and state, alleging the law was unconstitutional. Later, the hospital told the county that it may not be able to meet its debt obligations without implementing a new "cash flow plan," and asked the county to approve the sale of another property in Maryville known as Morningview Village.
On Jan. 1, 2024, Naramore stepped down as CEO after county commissioners said they wouldn't approve any proposal from the hospital if he was still in the role. Naramore stepped down after less than two years on the job.
One of the proposals to be discussed by the Blount County Commission on March 21 would execute a management agreement with Blount Memorial Hospital and settle litigation involving it. The other would approve the sale of Blount Memorial Transition Care Center in Maryville, also known as Morningview Village.
