Healthcare in Cookeville
Cookeville has genuinely large-scale, in-city healthcare access through Cookeville Regional Medical Center -- a 309-bed regional referral center describing itself as the premier healthcare institution in the Upper Cumberland, backed by real, named national quality awards.
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Learn moreCookeville Regional Medical Center: a real, verified regional referral role
This 309-bed hospital serves more than 350,000 residents across the Upper Cumberland region, with over 200 physicians across 40 medical and surgical specialties including cardiology, electrophysiology, cardiac and thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, pulmonology, cancer treatment, orthopedics, physical rehabilitation, and neurosurgery -- a genuinely comprehensive specialty roster for a city this size.
Real, named national quality recognition
Cookeville Regional is recognized as Tennessee's only hospital to receive the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery Award for nine consecutive years, and Tennessee's only hospital to receive the Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award for three consecutive years -- real, specific, sourceable distinctions rather than generic marketing claims.
A financially independent, city-owned institution
Founded in 1921 and now employing more than 2,400 people, Cookeville Regional operates as a city-owned hospital with, per its own institutional materials, no corporate enterprise dictating its service offerings and zero tax dollars funding its operations -- a real, distinct governance structure worth knowing.
A genuine regional-anchor role for a Upper Cumberland resident
Because Cookeville Regional serves as the Upper Cumberland's own regional referral center rather than routing high-acuity cases to Nashville by default, residents here have real, local access to specialty care that many similarly sized cities elsewhere would lack.
Key takeaways
- Cookeville Regional Medical Center (309 beds) serves 350,000+ Upper Cumberland residents with 200+ physicians across 40 specialties.
- Tennessee's only hospital with a nine-consecutive-year America's 100 Best Hospitals orthopedic-surgery award, and Tennessee's only hospital with a three-consecutive-year Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award.
- Founded in 1921, city-owned, financially independent with zero tax-dollar funding of operations, and now employing 2,400+ people.
- Cookeville Regional's genuine regional-referral role gives Upper Cumberland residents local access to specialty care many similarly sized cities elsewhere would lack.
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