Baptist Memorial Health Care hosted a topping out ceremony on July 21 to celebrate the placement of the topmost beam for Baptist Memorial Hospital-Fayette County, slated to open in spring 2027.
The Fayette County Board of Commissioners, Fayette County Industrial Development Board, Flintco, A2H and Baptist Memorial executives signed the beam during the topping out ceremony. The community had the opportunity to sign the beam from July 6 to July 20 at the Fayette County Courthouse.
“Placing the final structural beam is a major milestone for a construction project, and we are excited to celebrate the progress made on Baptist Fayette County with the community, supporters and the construction crew,” said Jason Little, president and CEO of Baptist Memorial Health Care. “This milestone brings us one step closer to expanding our services into Fayette County and providing comprehensive, quality health care for the community.”
The ritual of topping out to celebrate the completion of a structure dates back more than a thousand years. Contractors and organizations continue the tradition by placing the last or highest structural beam and lifting an evergreen tree, usually with a banner or flag attached.
“This is a historic day for Fayette County, and our community is happy to celebrate the progress made on the new Fayette County hospital,” said Rhea “Skip” Taylor, mayor of Fayette County. “We are proud to partner with Baptist Memorial Health Care because of its long history of providing quality health care to communities like ours. Every step in this construction process leads us to the future of health care in Fayette County.”
Baptist Fayette County is located in Somerville, Tennessee, and will be the only hospital in the 11-city county of more than 41,000 residents, according to the 2020 census.
Flintco, A2H and Covider Health are partners on the development and construction of Baptist Fayette County, which will begin hiring for select clinical positions this summer and fall. Interested candidates can apply at careers.baptistonline.org.
