For more information, contact:
Jennifer Larkey or Joe Hall
The Ingram Group/Memphis
Phone: (901) 312-9191

See related fact sheet: Baptist Memorial Health Care, Memphis Biotech Foundation and UT-Baptist Research Park Similar Efforts Around the Country

Memphis, Tenn., April 25, 2001 - The University of Tennessee, the newly formed Memphis Biotech Foundation, and Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation have reached a series of preliminary agreements on a major gift of land and facilities and the establishment of a new biotechnology research park on the Medical Center campus of Baptist Memorial Health Care.

The Memphis Biotech Foundation, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and Baptist will become partners in the UT-Baptist Research Park, a project that will extend Baptist's traditional mission in the Medical Center. The Biotech Foundation's plans call for a new campus integrating research, teaching and biomedical development. The proximity of the Research Park to UTHSC will create unique collaborative opportunities for UTHSC and its academic and research activities.

"Our vision is to establish the Memphis region as an internationally recognized center for the development and commercialization of biomedical technology," said J.R. "Pitt" Hyde, founder of the Memphis Biotech Foundation.

The foundation's launch follows a yearlong effort by Memphis 2005, the City of Memphis, Shelby County Government, the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce, the Community Foundation, the Regional Governor's Alliance for Excellence and the Memphis Region Biomedical Initiative task force to corral the community's biotechnology resources and to accelerate the industry's development in Memphis. The UT-Baptist Research Park will include an incubation program to develop new businesses in biotechnology and biomedicine and foster the creation of new jobs.

The gift by Baptist is valued conservatively at $40 million and is the largest in history to the University of Tennessee system. It is among the largest gifts in the history of higher education.

According to the Letters of Intent signed today by UT, Baptist and the new Foundation:

• The Memphis Biotech Foundation, started and chaired by Pitt Hyde to further biotechnology research at the University of Tennessee, will assume ownership of the former Baptist Memorial Hospital building, land, parking garage and power plant located at 899 Madison Ave., effective Jan. 1, 2002, at no cost to the Foundation.
• The University of Tennessee (Health Science Center) will assume ownership of the medical office buildings and parking garage located at 910, 920, and 930 Madison Ave. and the building at 20 S. Dudley over the course of a 30-year period at no cost to the University.
• The University of Tennessee (Health Science Center) and Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation will become joint partners in the new UT-Baptist Research Park, which will encompass all of the former Baptist Memorial Hospital-Medical Center campus building, land and facilities.

The Letters of Intent will be reviewed by the UT Board of Trustees at their meeting in Martin, Tenn., on Thursday, April 26.

"This is an exciting development for the University of Tennessee, for the medical community and our entire region," said UTHSC Chancellor William Rice. "The proximity of our campuses will create unique and special collaboration between UTHSC and the Research Park. This project will elevate UT among the special institutions involved in academics and research."

The partnership promises to significantly boost the medical industry's already strong influence on the local and regional economy. A recent study conducted for the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce places UTHSC's impact on the local economy at $1.7 billion annually. The University of Tennessee and Baptist are two of Shelby County's largest employers.

"After careful consideration of many options and proposals for our Medical Center property, we've determined this is the best viable option that also meets our mission of healing and teaching," said Stephen C. Reynolds, president and CEO of Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. "This gift continues our long-standing support and partnership with the University of Tennessee and benefits Memphis' medical center and the regional medical community."

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the University of Memphis and other research interests have been participants in shaping the new foundation's concept and will benefit from synergies and collaborative opportunities with UT-Baptist Research Park.

The agreement has been approved by the Board of the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. Details for the gift and plans for the UT-Baptist Research Park will be shared with the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees at its Thursday meeting.

About the University of Tennessee Health Science Center
The UT Health Science Center is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master and doctoral degrees and currently offers seven undergraduate and 10 graduate/professional degrees within the Colleges of Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and the School of Biomedical Engineering. The campus has 43 endowed professorships of which 19 are Chairs of Excellence. The campus is home to seven Centers of Excellence. Founded in 1911, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center now includes the graduate School of Medicine in Knoxville as well as graduate medical education programs in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville; Family Medicine Centers in Knoxville, Jackson and Memphis; public and continuing education program across the state; and the UT Bowld Hospital in Memphis. The UT Health Science Center is the ninth largest employer in Memphis with approximately 4,000 faculty and staff employees. The UT Medical Group, the private practice arm of the Health Science Center faculty, is the Mid-South's largest multi-specialty physician group practice. For more information visit www.utmem.edu.

About The Memphis Biotech Foundation
The Memphis Biotech Foundation is a not-for-profit organization created to further biotechnology research, development and commercialization. Founded and chaired by Memphis entrepreneur J.R. 'Pitt' Hyde, the Foundation is governed by a board of directors that includes William Rice, Chancellor, UTCHS; Steve Reynolds, CEO, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation; Johnnie Amonette, University of Tennessee Board of Trustees; Dean Jernigan, founder and CEO, Storage USA; Kenneth Robinson, Assistant Dean, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee and pastor and chief executive of St. Andrew AME Church in Memphis.

About Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation
One of the largest not-for-profit health systems in the United States, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation is an integrated health care delivery system offering a full continuum of care to communities throughout Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. With the intention of caring for people close to their homes, the Baptist network consists of 17 hospitals; more than 2,500 affiliated physicians; home, hospice and psychiatric care throughout the tri-state Mid-South area; minor medical centers and clinics; a chain of surgery, rehabilitation and other outpatient centers; and an education system highlighted by the Baptist College of Health Sciences. Baptist employs approximately 13,000 people and, in 1999, admitted approximately 100,000 patients. It is one of the top-rated integrated health care delivery systems in the country, according to the American Hospital Association, and the only Memphis-based provider that spans three states.

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