Ascension invests more than $530 million in Tennessee

Diving brief:

• Ascension Street. Thomas invests more than $537 million in various projects in middle Tennessee, the Nashville-based health system announced last week.
• The investments will support new facilities, technology upgrades and increased capacity for hospitalized patients in Tennessee’s Davidson, Rutherford and Montgomery counties.
• Ascension Street. Thomas says the investments will reduce travel time for patients in the region by expanding access to care and support more advanced treatment options, including advanced diagnostics.

Dive overview:

Some of the projects include efforts to modernize and expand Davidson County hospitals, including emergency departments, inpatient units and surgical units. Ascension will funnel “major investments” to Rutherford County at its main campus, St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital.

Ascension’s previously announced investments in Montgomery include $148.5 million to support a new hospital in Clarksville.

The new projects will be financed through tax-exempt bonds with state and local partners, Ascension St. Thomas said in a press release.

The regional nonprofit health system, which is owned by the Catholic nonprofit Ascension Health System, has invested heavily in Middle Tennessee as a booming population drives increased demand for services.

In July, the health system announced it would invest $10 million to upgrade the emergency department at Ascension St. Thomas West Hospital. The health system also received state approval to build two facilities – a rehabilitation hospital and an inpatient hospital – in partnership with Life point Health in March.

Ascension as a whole spent $780.2 million on construction of capital projects during the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year, which ended September 30.