Nashville

Health Care

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) encompasses Vanderbilt Hospital, the Vanderbilt Clinic, the university's schools of medicine and nursing, and a variety of other facilities. VUMC employs over 8,000 persons, making it middle Tennessee's largest private employer and the second largest in the state. Vanderbilt University Hospital has 658 beds housed in a twin-towered facility that is also home to the region's only Level I trauma center and Level I burn center. Several of the hospital's departments, including cancer, endocrinology, and gynecology, have won nationwide recognition. In 1997, the Vanderbilt clinic recorded nearly 29,000 admissions and scheduled 473,000 outpatient visits. Specialty clinics associated with VUMC include the

Nashville lives up to its nickname, the "Athens of the South," not only because of the replica of the Greek Parthenon, but also because of its dedication to excellence in education. ()

Henry-Joyce Cancer Clinic and Clinical Research Center. The School of Medicine was ranked fourteenth nationwide in a U.S. News & World Report survey in 1997.

Other major hospitals in the Nashville area include Baptist Hospital, Metropolitan General Hospital, Nashville Memorial, St. Thomas Hospital, and the following Columbia Health System hospitals: Centennial, Hendersonville, Southern Hills, and Summit.