MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford is pleased to announce a significant expansion of its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, thanks in part to a generous donation by the Lee Moss Family to the Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation. The expansion includes the addition of six new NICU bassinets, increasing capacity by 35 percent and providing more neonatal patient beds to further care for the hospital’s tiniest patients. 

On Aug. 27, the hospital celebrated with a ribbon cutting for the new neonatal intensive care bassinets to the Lee and Susan Moss Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), increasing the total number of NICU bassinets from 16 to 22. Lee Moss, a former chairman of the Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Board of Directors, and his wife, Susan, were in attendance for the event along with their daughters Catherine and Laura. In addition to hearing from Lee Moss, attendees heard from Dr. Jason Parker and Dr. Elizabeth Harrelson Neonatologist, Stacey Beave, ASTR CNO, Jason Spillman with Turner Construction, Kately Peters a mother of a NICU graduate, and blessing by Deacon Pete. 

“This expansion is part of a larger master facility plan designed to help Saint Thomas Rutherford take care of higher acuity patients,” said Gordon Ferguson, president and CEO of Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford. “I remember when we opened our first NICU at the old hospital in 1998. There were a few folks who questioned our wisdom in doing this but we very quickly saw the benefits of having skilled physicians and nurses on our staff who made it possible for our tiniest patients to be cared for close to home.”

“One in three babies in Middle Tennessee are born at an Ascension Saint Thomas hospital,” Ferguson added. “Our state-of-the-art birth center provides comprehensive care for all types of births, from low-risk to high-risk pregnancies. We offer private labor and delivery rooms, family-centered care options, and a full spectrum of support services, including a Level II neonatal intensive care unit, which this expansion will significantly enhance.”

The NICU expansion project is in direct response to the remarkable growth Rutherford County has seen in the past decade. The county's population has grown 35 percent since 2015 with an  average of 28 new residents daily moving to the area.

This project is the latest in a series of investments totaling $600 million in Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford when the hospital relocated from Highland Avenue in downtown Murfreesboro to its current location on Medical Center Parkway in 2010.

The expansion will also include the addition of 18 more critical care beds for adults, increasing total capacity from 32 to 50. This portion of the project is expected to be completed by February 2024. Once the expansion is fully operational, the hospital’s licensed bed count will rise to 426.

Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford employs 1,800 staff members and over 350 physicians. With the additional neonatal and adult critical care beds, hospital officials expect to hire additional nursing staff to meet the increased demand for care.

Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford serves patients from Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, as well as neighboring counties of Bedford, Coffee, and Warren.

About Ascension Saint Thomas - Ascension Saint Thomas is a leading health care system with a 125-year history of providing care to the community, and is the only faith-based, non profit health system in Middle Tennessee. Today, the health system offers a highly comprehensive system of care, with more than 250 sites of care that cover a 45-county area in Tennessee consisting of 16 hospitals and a network of affiliated joint ventures, medical practices, clinics and specialty facilities. Across the state, Ascension Saint Thomas and its partner organizations employ more than 13,000 dedicated associates who care for millions of patients each year. Ascension Saint Thomas is part of Ascension, one of the nation’s largest faith-based healthcare organizations committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension includes approximately 134,000 associates, 35,000 affiliated providers and 140 hospitals, serving communities in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.ascension.org.