NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans will soon begin a relationship with Vanderbilt after their long-time medical partners, Ascension St. Thomas, ended their relationship.
That means the on-field doctors and quick second looks will very likely come from new orthopedists, who are generally regarded as the figureheads of the partnership between a team and its health sponsor.
The team's practice facility has been named after what is now Ascension St. Thomas since it first landed in Middle Tennessee. Their first, temporary headquarters and practice facility in Bellevue in 1997 and 1998 was Baptist Sports Park, housed in a Baptist office building with adjacent trailers and open fields. When they moved to their current address in MetroCenter in Aug. of 1999, it had the same name until it became Saint Thomas Sports Park in July of 2013.
It's unclear if the new partnership will carry the same naming rights and practice uniform patches that the St. Thomas deal did.
My understanding is that a Vanderbilt partnership does not eliminate the possibility of an Ascension St. Thomas doctor(s) remaining involved.
Dr. John Williams, who has been with the team since 1997 and has been the head team physician since 2016, will most likely remain in that role. And those with day-to-day jobs employed by the team, led by director of sports medicine Matt Gregg, won't be affected.
"We want to thank Ascension Saint Thomas for their longtime support of the Tennessee Titans," the team said in a staement. "We look forward to sharing exciting news about our new healthcare partner in the near future.”
Courtlandt Griffin first reported that Ascension was ending the relationship effective March 1.
