History
In the summer of 1960, Jefferson Memorial Hospital opened as a small rural hospital in Jefferson City. The hospital was built with Hill-Burton government funds — a post-depression and World War II program to build and update hospitals in under-served areas. The facility was located next to Carson-Newman College.
Thirty-seven years later, the city and county-owned hospital joined St. Mary's Health System, based in Knoxville. In just a few years, St. Mary's purchased 121 acres of farmland along the western edge of Jefferson City and built a $20 million hospital and medical office building that opened in January 2001. The facility sits on 18 acres, leaving 103 acres available for future development.
Today, as part of Tennova Healthcare, the hospital, its doctors, nurses and leaders continue to play a major role in the progress of Jefferson and surrounding counties. The hospital provides medical care, stimulates local economic development and even produces a bumper crop of corn on its still-undeveloped property next door.