Belmont University and HCA Healthcare are partnering to start a new medical school in Nashville.
“HCA Healthcare will bring world-class expertise to Belmont’s College of Medicine, offering our students extraordinary faculty instructors and a pathway to residency and clinical placements,” says Belmont President Bob Fisher. “A College of Medicine is the natural next step in Belmont’s health care offerings.”
No date for enrollment has been set. The university is conducting a nationwide search for a dean of the medical school.
Officials say they have already secured a 150,000 square-foot building to house the medical school and plans are underway for development.
“According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the shortage of U.S. physicians continues to worsen, and we share Belmont University’s commitment to address this critical need,” says HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen in a statement.
Macon County tapped for baby food plant
Babynov USA, a new division of Global Baby, a French organic baby food manufacturer, will invest approximately $44.9 million and create 147 jobs in Macon County’s Red Boiling Springs. It will be the company’s first U.S. production facility.
The company will renovate an existing facility in Red Boiling Springs in order to expand its market to the U.S.
Global Baby provides ready-to-feed baby milks and prepared food products, such as fruit and vegetable purees, full meals and milk-based desserts. The group is headquartered in Paris.
BNA Wine Group sold to Miller Family
Miller Family Wine Company has acquired BNA Wine Group, founded by three Nashvillians.
The company has earned a nationwide reputation for crafting distinctive California wines. BNA Wine Group’s portfolio of premium brands includes the award-winning Butternut, Volunteer, Humble Pie and The Rule.
“BNA has done a great job at meeting the demands of consumers by creating on-trend, high quality wines that are widely available,” says Nicholas Miller, vice president of sales and marketing.
IVX Health earns best workplace honor
Modern Healthcare has named Brentwood-based IVX Health as one of the Best Places to Work in Healthcare in 2020.
The annual program identifies and honors 150 outstanding employers in the health care industry nationwide.
Modern Healthcare ranked IVX Health No. 20 overall in one of its two category designations. The award marks the second consecutive year IVX Health has been recognized in the prestigious Best Places to Work list, improving from its previous ranking in 2019.
IVX Health is a national provider of infusion and injection therapy for those with complex chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other conditions.
HealthStream purchases scheduling platform
Nashville-based HealthStream has acquired ShiftWizard, Inc.
HealthStream’s addition of ShiftWizard expands its growing portfolio of solutions for nurse and staff scheduling, which began earlier in 2020 with the acquisition of NurseGrid.
ShiftWizard, Inc., based in Raleigh, North Carolina, focuses on providing a SaaS-based solution that integrates key workforce management capabilities, including scheduling, productivity and forecasting.
HealthStream adds to an emerging area of its workforce solutions that supports health care professionals and their management in effective staff scheduling – where administrative work is reduced, cost-savings are gained, and productivity data is made readily accessible to managers.
HealthStream acquired ShiftWizard, Inc. for approximately $32.0 million in cash, subject to working capital and other customary purchase price adjustments.
PCG, Visible Music College join forces
PCG Artist Development, a talent development agency headquartered in Nashville, and Visible Music College have announced a joint partnership to create the first college-accredited curriculum for developing recording artists, musicians and theatrical performers called PCG At Visible.
Classes for the spring 2021 semester are set to begin Jan. 19 at all Visible Music College campuses in Memphis, Dallas, Chicago and Redding and Atascadero, California.
Through PCG at Visible, developing artists seeking a college education and a real-world experience can earn an artist development certificate or a bachelor’s degree in modern music.
Students may focus on one-year certificates or three-year bachelor’s degrees in music, production or management.
Novatech partners with Square 9 Softworks
Novatech, a Nashville tech company, announces a strategic partnership with Square 9 Softworks, a software development firm.
Novatech’s nationwide customers will now be able to experience Square 9’s portfolio of both on-premise and cloud-enabled content management solutions.
“Our partnership with Square 9 gives Novatech a comprehensive cloud-based document management solution for the future,’’ says Dave Moorman, President/CISO of Novatech, Inc. “From advanced capture, content management, web forms and workflows we have a platform to help our clients become more productive and to become more of a digital workplace for the new hybrid work environment.”
Pharos adds hospice service providers
Pharos Capital Group, a private equity firm based in Nashville and Dallas, has announced its post-acute care provider platform, Charter Health Care Group, has acquired two hospice service providers.
The hospices are Vitality Home Healthcare (doing business as Phoenix Home Care & Hospice) in Denver and Heartwood Home Health & Hospice in the Salt Lake City, area.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. These acquisitions are Charter’s third and fourth of 2020.
Pharos, a physician-founded private equity firm focused on growing health care companies which lower the total cost of care, improve patient outcomes and expand access to care, first invested in Charter in October 2018.
Bridgestone continues to support Maplewood
Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas has extended support for Maplewood High School’s Automotive Training Center through 2023.
The extension coincides with the program’s five-year anniversary and will ensure Nashville students continue to have access to the skills needed to pursue careers in the automotive service industry.
Since 2015, more than 110 students have graduated from Maplewood’s training center, and 39 students have accepted positions working at one of more than 13 Nashville-area Bridgestone Firestone Complete Auto Care stores.
Although the Maplewood Automotive Training Center has been closed due to COVID-19, students in the automotive program have been receiving virtual training from teacher TJ Williams, who is also a part-time Bridgestone employee. Students continue to remotely learn the skills it will take to become a customer service or vehicle service technician at one of 2,200 Bridgestone retail operations stores nationwide.
“When we began our partnership with Maplewood High School five years ago our goal was to invest in the futures of young men and women who are interested in careers in the automotive industry,” says Chris Karbowiak, vice chair, chief administrative officer, chief risk officer and executive vice president for Bridgestone Americas.
“Today the program has taken on a new meaning as students search for ways to continue to pursue these critical, hands-on skills amid our global pandemic.’’
State receives fed help for COVID, disasters
Tennessee’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has secured an extra $7.2 million in federal grant funding to respond to mental health and addiction concerns caused by COVID-19 and recent natural disasters.
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has awarded the department an additional $3.5 million to continue to address mental health concerns caused by COVID-19. This funding supplements a previous grant of almost $1 million. Crisis counseling services through this program are available in all 95 Tennessee counties.
SAMHSA also awarded the department $3.7 million to respond to the mental health effects of flooding in 2019.
In February and March 2019, 59 Tennessee counties sustained significant damage from severe weather, and FEMA responded with a disaster declaration. Funding under this grant will support mental health crisis services, Behavioral Health Safety Net services, and substance abuse treatment and recovery services.