The city of Columbia and the Maury County Bridle and Saddle Club – organizers for the annual Mule Day Parade and festivities – have announced the cancellation of Mule Day 2021, which had been planned for April 8-11. The decision was made after consideration of all potential options, and included input and recommendations from local health and public safety officials.

“The health and well-being of our volunteers, our community, and all Mule Day participants is at the forefront of every decision we make as the organization responsible for putting on Mule Day,” says Mandy Mills, Mule Day Committee Chair. “We considered many potential scenarios with the City of Columbia, but at the end of the day, it is our belief that cancellation in 2021 and a re-start in 2022 was in the best interest of all.”

Blended Festival coming to Nashville

The Blended Festival, a music, food and wine event, is scheduled for Aug. 13-14 at Nashville’s First Horizon Park.

Similar festivals will be held in Austin and San Diego in 2021. Blended has plans to double its number of nationwide festivals in 2022.

In conjunction with My Wine Society, the first Blended Festival took place at Waterfront Park in San Diego in 2019. The wine-tasting event expanded into a music, arts and culinary festival.

HCA Healthcare creates COVID-19 consortium

Nashville’s HCA Healthcare has formed a consortium of prominent public and private research institutions to use HCA Healthcare’s vast data on COVID-19 hospital care to improve patient outcomes and public knowledge.

The institutions – including the federal Agency for Health Research and Quality, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, Meharry Medical College, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, and others – will gain access to the data in a research program directed by the HCA Healthcare Research Institute.

As a learning health system, HCA Healthcare collects and analyzes data from its approximately 35 million annual patient encounters to develop technologies and best practices to improve patient care. With support from HCA Healthcare’s Sarah Cannon Research Institute and its precision medicine platform, Genospace, HCA Healthcare created a COVID-19 patient registry at the outset of the pandemic that has since captured data from treating more suspected and positive COVID-19 cases than any other health system in the United States, including more than 110,000 patients who were admitted for inpatient care in 2020.

Vanderbilt joins Wellcome Leap global

Vanderbilt University has joined the Leap Health Breakthrough Network, a global group of leading academic and research institutions committed to solving the world’s most serious health challenges – such as cancer and infectious diseases – at record speed.

Wellcome Leap is a U.S. nonprofit organization with $300 million in initial funding. It was founded by the Wellcome Trust, a U.K.-based charitable organization, to accelerate innovations that benefit global health.

Through its network, Wellcome Leap builds and executes bold, unconventional programs that aim to deliver breakthroughs in human health over five to 10 years. Operating at the intersection of life sciences and engineering, Leap programs require best-in-class, multidisciplinary, global teams assembled from universities, companies and nonprofits working together to solve problems that they cannot solve alone.

Vanderbilt Transplant sets transplant record

The Vanderbilt Transplant Center established a record in 2020 for total solid organ transplants, performing 611 life-saving procedures among its adult and pediatric organ transplant programs.

The 2020 total surpasses VTC’s previous record of 566 transplants in 2019. As a result, VUMCnow ranks as the nation’s sixth-largest transplant program by volume. This is among 253 U.S. hospitals offering some type of solid organ transplant.

In the Adult Transplant program, teams performed 263 kidney transplants, two simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants, 133 liver transplants, 124 heart transplants, 41 single and double lung transplants, and one simultaneous heart-lung transplant, which was VUMC’s first such procedure since 2006.

Pediatric transplant teams with Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt performed 13 kidney transplants, 11 liver transplants (including four living donor procedures) and 23 heart transplants.

Nashville named House X pilot city

House X has announced Nashville as one of the 21 pilot cities to launch the American Dream 2021, a virtual homebuying event.

The program features 40,000-plus new healthier, energy-efficient homes across the country valued at more than $18 billion with as much as $364 million in stimulus by providing homebuyers free renewable energy and a discounted mortgage.

Stimulus incentives apply to all contracts executed Jan. 27-April 15 for registered homebuyers.

American Dream 2021 is limited to home purchases in selected pilot cities available on houseX.com.

The Nashville pilot includes:

• Over 917 new homes in more than 137 communities with 212 homes ready for quick move-in

• Renewable electricity at zero cost to registered homebuyers

• 1% discounted mortgage for the first 12 months, followed by either 14 or 29 years of fixed-rate mortgage rate on FDA conforming loans.

State needs billions for infrastructure fixes

The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations has issued a report saying the state needs at least $58.6 billion worth of public infrastructure improvements during the five-year period of July 2019 to June 2024.

That is a $3.8 billion (6.9%) increase from the year before, and of the $3.8 billion increase almost $3.0 billion (80.1%) is attributable to increases in the estimated cost for transportation and utilities, followed by general government (16.1%). Infrastructure needs for transportation and utilities, which increased for the fifth year in a row, increased this year by $3.0 billion mainly because of new road and sidewalk projects.

The $608 million increase in needed improvements for general government infrastructure also contributed to the overall increase in the total estimated cost of the inventory. Most of this increase is from the $586 million increase in needed improvements at public buildings, while the need for improvements at other facilities increased $22 million.

The state was responsible for over $615 million in new projects, and approximately $252 million is needed for renovations at state buildings in Nashville.

The estimated cost was also up in two categories – recreation and culture ($113 million) and health, safety and welfare ($86 million). Reported needs decreased in two categories: education ($42 million) and economic development, down $14 million compared to last year.

Frost Brown Todd earns LGBTQ honor

The 2021 Human Rights Campaign annual Corporate Equality Index lists Frost Brown Todd as a “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

The firm earned a 100% rating for the seventh year running. FBT is one of 767 major U.S. businesses to earn top marks in 2021. The ranking encompasses FBT’s 14 markets in nine states.

The CEI is a national benchmarking survey and report that reviews corporate policies and workplace equality practices. The HRC evaluates all types of entities from the largest law firms and publicly traded businesses to smaller and privately held companies. FBT met the four key pillars of the CEI’s rating criteria, including non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

Dickinson Wright makes Corporate Equality list

Dickinson Wright PLLC received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index, the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Dickinson Wright joins the ranks of 767 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.

The results of the 2021 CEI showcase how 1,142 U.S.-based companies are not only promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies in the U.S., but also for the 57% of CEI-rated companies with global operations who are helping advance the cause of LGBTQ inclusion in workplaces abroad. Dickinson Wright’s efforts in satisfying all of the CEI’s criteria earned a 100% ranking and the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 18 million U.S. workers and an additional 17 million abroad. Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.

J. Alexander’s expanding in San Antonio market

J. Alexander’s Holdings, Inc., a collection of restaurants headquartered in Nashville, will open Redlands Grill March 29 in San Antonio.

Mark A. Parkey, president and chief executive officer of J. Alexander’s Holdings, Inc., said the new Redlands Grill will be a chef-driven, boutique-style restaurant emphasizing high-quality food and professional service.

The San Antonio Redlands Grill will have 8,350 square feet with seating for 279 guests.

LBMC partners with Element5

Brentwood’s LBMC and Canadian company Element5 have announced a strategic partnership to bring greater enterprise-grade security and health care compliance to Element5’s existing suite of AI and RPA (Robotic Process Automation) solutions.

The strength of the partnership comes at the heels of Element5’s rapidly growing portfolio of automation workflows that enable post-acute care organizations to witness tangible ROI by automating their administrative processes.

LBMC is a Forbes 2020 Top Recommended Firm, one of the Southeast’s largest accounting and business consulting firms and a top 50 firm in the nation serving approximately 10,000 clients with diverse needs across a spectrum of industries.