Saint Thomas Health and Acadia Healthcare are partnering to create a new 76-bed psychiatric inpatient hospital at Metro Center in Nashville.

The state-of-the-art behavioral health hospital is planned for 300 Great Circle Road. Pending certificate of need approvals, construction would begin in early 2019.

“Our partnership with Acadia Healthcare is a transformational initiative that aligns fully with our mission of holistically serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable,” says Tim Adams, president and CEO of Saint Thomas Health. “This population of patients is grossly underserved, making individuals who suffer from mental illness one of the most vulnerable in the communities Saint Thomas Health serves.”

The partnership will include 40 adult psychiatric beds and 36 geriatric psychiatric beds. Saint Thomas Health will relocate the existing 24 geriatric psychiatric beds at Saint Thomas West Hospital to develop the planned freestanding hospital.

As a part of this strategy, Saint Thomas Health plans to convert the existing geriatric psychiatric unit to a critical care unit needed to support the rising acuity levels at Saint Thomas West.

This joint venture is the latest in a series of successful partnerships that Franklin-based Acadia Healthcare has entered into with regional hospital systems.

“We are delighted to enter this joint venture partnership with Saint Thomas Health,” says Joey Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Acadia. “A central focus at Acadia has long been the consistent expansion of our capability to meet the growing behavioral health needs of our local communities. By becoming a part of Saint Thomas Health’s clinically integrated system of care through this joint venture, we are taking a significant step toward fulfilling this goal in Middle Tennessee.”

Health initiative focuses on addicted babies

Nashville-based axialHealthcare, a pain management and medication solutions company, is launching a new initiative to aid babies born suffering from opioid withdrawal, called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.

The rate of U.S. infants diagnosed with opioid withdrawal symptoms increased 433 percent from 2004 to 2014, according to a study in the American Academy of Pediatrics. States across the nation are seeking innovative solutions for this issue. The study also shows that hospital stays for Medicaid-covered infants without NAS average around $3,700, but hospital stays for infants born with NAS range from $19,340, when adjusted for hospital inflation, to as high as $66,700. These costs fall to the state Medicaid programs, which cover an estimated 82 percent of NAS births.

“The launch of this NAS enhancement further demonstrates our commitment to developing innovative and timely solutions that improve clinical outcomes for those impacted by the opioid crisis,” says John J. Donahue, chairman and chief executive officer at axialHealthcare.

“By leveraging predictive analytics and machine learning, this enhancement is unique in that it focuses on early identification and intervention. Current market solutions focus on the care coordination a newborn needs once suffering from NAS, but our goal is to prevent NAS from occurring in the first place.”

The company’s technology can now identify women who are pregnant or of childbearing age and using opioids, and it allows physicians to intervene with focused speed, accuracy and treatment.

“As a practicing physician, I’ve witnessed the positive impact that early identification can have on a provider’s treatment decisions and ultimately the clinical outcomes for their patients,” says Jason Yong, Medical Director of the Pain Management Center at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and Chair of axialHealthcare’s Scientific Advisory Board. “Having been highly involved in the development of this enhancement, I’m confident in the product’s solid clinical foundation and look forward to successful interventions on behalf of the company’s health plan clients and their members.”

Bridgestone recognized by General Motors

Bridgestone Corporation, including Bridgestone Americas Inc., has been named General Motors Co. Supplier of the Year.

GM recognized 132 of its best suppliers from 17 countries that have consistently exceeded GM’s expectations, created outstanding value or brought new innovations to the company.

This is the third consecutive year and 16th occasion that Bridgestone has received this award.

“This recognition reflects the outstanding work that Bridgestone global employees are delivering to exceed the expectations of important partners like General Motors,” says Shannon Quinn, president, original equipment sales, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC. “We are honored to be recognized not only for our commitment to quality and performance, but for our ongoing focus on bringing value to General Motors and its customers.”

GM’s Supplier of the Year award is reserved for suppliers that distinguish themselves by meeting performance metrics for quality, execution, innovation and total enterprise cost.

“This is an opportunity for General Motors to honor suppliers who are truly the best of the best,” says Steve Kiefer, GM senior vice president, global purchasing and supply chain. “The automotive industry is transforming at an incredible rate. The relationships we have with our supply base are critical to delivering a strong vehicle lineup today and the cutting-edge mobility services of tomorrow.”

Get Food Smart TN participants named

The inaugural class of Get Food Smart TN has been announced.

Several Nashville-area organizations, businesses and others are involved in the statewide initiative aimed at reducing food waste is supported by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The program’s first round of participants includes: Austin Peay State University, The Compost Fairy, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Kroger, Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Memphis Tilth, Miel restaurant, Music City Center, The Nashville Food Project, Nourish Knoxville, Prescott South Middle School and The Society of St. Andrew.

“The mission of Get Food Smart TN is to promote using food wisely and enhance the sustainability of Tennessee’s food resources,” says Dr. Kendra Abkowitz Brooks, TDEC assistant commissioner “It’s the first of its kind for a state environmental agency and parallels TDEC’s broader mission to reduce harmful air emissions and wasted water, energy and land resources.”

Eligible entities include schools, restaurants, government entities, nonprofits, grocers, industry and agriculture. Program benefits include state recognition and technical assistance.

“We want to make sure we are rescuing all the food that we can,” says Melissa Eads, corporate affairs manager for Kroger’s Nashville Division. “Last fall we announced our Zero Hunger Zero Waste program that outlines our commitment to ending hunger and eliminating food waste by 2025. What TDEC is trying to do is what we’re trying to do, and we’re happy to support one another.”

Efforts by other participating organizations include garden to table programs, composting food scraps and donating food resources to anti-hunger organizations.

“Over time we hope to expand Get Food Smart TN to include workshops and financial resources for members,” Brooks adds. “Interested organizations don’t have to wait until then to participate. We encourage everyone to join us in reducing, recovering and diverting food waste wherever possible.”

TDEC will recognize one entity as the Tennessee Food Smart Organization of the Year in March 2019.

Comdata, Infintech

renew agreement

Brentwood-based Comdata has announced the renewal of its partnership with Infintech to support ePayables vendor enrollment.

Comdata is a global leader in B2B payment technology and one of the largest virtual credit card providers in the world, and

Infintech is a leading B2B merchant services provider.

Infintech provides a wide array of services to Comdata clients and their vendors to help improve their ability to accept virtual credit cards for payment.

“Vendor acceptance is the ‘last mile’ in ePayables,” says Meitra Aycock, vice president of product and strategy at Comdata.

“Our mission is to remove as much friction as possible between buyers and suppliers and Infintech has become a key piece of the puzzle for us. Their ability to help suppliers reduce acceptance costs and streamline processing is incredibly valuable.”

Currently, there are approximately 800,000 vendors in Comdata’s virtual card network. Maximizing vendor enrollment leads to more cost savings, fewer paper checks and more rebate revenue.

“We have industry data that shows we are able to enroll nearly three-times the vendors for virtual card payments for our clients compared to the market average,” Aycock adds.