About Nashville General Hospital

Nashville General Hospital

For more than a century, Nashville General Hospital has been serving the community as a steadfast beacon of care and compassion — making outstanding, comprehensive health care accessible to all. Here, all are welcomed, and all are treated equally. We serve as a lifeline for the health needs of our Nashville community. Your well being is our primary concern — and our experienced and skilled professionals are here to nurture both health and hope.

Every day, we earn the trust of our neighbors through our integrity, accountability, and accessibility. And we look forward to another hundred years of providing the care and respect our patients and their families deserve.

Nashville General Hospital Our Mission

Our Mission

To improve the health and wellness of our Nashville community by providing equitable access to comprehensive, coordinated, patient-centered care. We also work to support tomorrow’s caregivers, and translate science into clinical practice.

Nashville General Hospital ER Nurses

Our Vision

To be the leader in exceptional community healthcare — serving Nashville “one neighbor at a time.”

Nashville General Hospital Cardiology

Our Values

  • Compassion to those we serve and to each other.
  • Honesty and integrity in all we say and do.
  • Accountability to our community, to society, and to each other.
  • Respect and dignity for all humankind.
  • Teamwork to achieve our vision, mission and values.

Executive Team

Year-End Reports and Strategic Plan

2020 Year-End report

released Feb. 2021

Semi-Annual Report

released Sept. 2021

2021 Year-End report

released Mar. 2022

Strategic Plan

released Sept. 2022

Hospital Authority of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee

The Metropolitan Hospital Authority statute, codified at Tenn. Code Ann. 7-57-101, et seq., provides that the Hospital Authority shall be governed by a Board of Trustees. The purpose of the Board of Trustees is to administer and control hospitals owned and/or operated by the Hospital Authority of the Metropolitan Government. The Board of Trustees, through the Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital Authority, shall exercise all the administrative functions pertaining to the operation of Nashville General Hospital (“NGH”) and its related facilities, which the Hospital Authority owns, maintains, or operates for the examination, treatment and convalescence of individuals who are sick or injured.

Meetings are held the last Thursday of each month at 4:30 p.m. in the Nashville General Hospital Board Room. The Hospital Authority Board of Trustees' meeting agendas can be found here.

Nashville General Hospital, on Hermitage Avenue Sept. 8, 1973

Nashville's First Hospital

On April 23, 1890, Nashville General was opened as the city’s first full-fledged medical facility. The 60-bed “City Hospital,” as it was known, cost $30,000 to build. Immediately recognizing a dire need for qualified nurses, the first administrator, Dr. Charles Brower, enlisted the help of Miss Charlotte E. Perkins, a head nurse from Pennsylvania. Together they founded a nursing training school — the only one of its kind between the Ohio River and New Orleans. The year was 1891. The school they built functioned until 1970. Other additions followed, culminating in a 1932 expansion that brought the average daily number of patients up to 188.

Nashville General Hospital at Meharry, exterior

Nashville General Hospital

In 1998, the hospital was relocated from Hermitage Avenue to the former Meharry-Hubbard Hospital building on Albion Street. Since then, the hospital has only grown stronger — delivering a wide range of primary and specialty care services, and providing access to affordable, high-quality healthcare for all.

Top photo:  Nashville General Hospital on Hermitage Avenue Sept. 8, 1973, Joe Rudis for The Tennessean
Bottom photo: Andrea Behrends