Murfreesboro, TN - Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford has completed an expansion of its Critical Care Unit (CCU) and added a new ambulance bay to enhance emergency services. The expansion increases the CCU’s capacity by 18 beds, addressing the growing healthcare needs of Rutherford County and surrounding areas. It raised the number of adult critical care beds from 32 to 50, bringing the hospital’s total licensed bed count to 418.

Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford President and CEO Gordon Ferguson said, “This expansion addresses the growing demand for critical care in the rapidly growing communities around Rutherford County. It ensures residents have greater access to high-quality acute healthcare services closer to home.”

The $42 million expansion is part of a broader $600 million investment in Rutherford County over the past 15 years, following the hospital's relocation from Highland Avenue in downtown Murfreesboro to its current location on Medical Center Parkway in 2010.

The expansion comes in response to the population growth in Rutherford County, which is now the fourth most populous county in Tennessee. In 2024, the county’s population grew by 9,300, reaching 388,900.

Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford employs 1,800 staff members and more than 350 physicians. With the addition of the critical care beds, the hospital expects to hire more nursing staff to meet the growing demand.

The hospital serves patients from Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, as well as surrounding counties, including 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.