BradenHealth has acquired the former Jellico (Tenn.) Hospital, with plans to reopen it as a full-service hospital.
Five things to know:
1. The purchase from the City of Jellico is a minimum $14 million investment and is expected to create about 120 jobs, according to an Aug. 21 BradenHealth news release shared with Becker’s.
“Jellico Hospital’s closure left a painful gap in access for families who already face significant barriers to care,” Founder and CEO Beau Braden, DO, said in the release. “We did not acquire this facility to simply reopen doors; we acquired it to rebuild a reliable, high-quality healthcare presence that the people of this region can count on.”
2. BradenHealth plans to add ambulance services once the hospital is operational. The facility will include emergency department care, inpatient services and community health resources.
3. The hospital ceased operations in March 2024. Jamestown, Tenn.-based Phoenix Rural Health had secured a lease for the facility in February 2025, with plans to reopen it as a rural emergency hospital. Since opening in 2020, the hospital closed multiple times and was managed by three different companies, CBS affiliate WVLT previously reported.
4. BradenHealth is working with the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission and CMS on surveys, licensing and Medicare certification, the release said.
5. The operator has previously reopened hospitals in Tennessee as well as a facility in Stuart, Va.
“Our goal is to stop the high rate of deaths in rural communities,” Kyle Kopec, co-founder and chief compliance officer, told Becker’s in 2025. “Everyone’s aligned on the mission, and we’re able to execute it better each time.”
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