A financial dispute between the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine and Regional One Health has put the future of a resident training program in Memphis in question, with UT confirming it will exclude future Regional One resident and fellow rotations from its match program starting in July 2027.
The College of Medicine confirmed that a letter outlining the decision was sent to its clinical chairs this past Wednesday, according to WREG. The letter states that UT remains committed to supporting faculty and training programs across Tennessee and at Regional One Health, even as it pulls future rotations from the match pipeline. The move follows a termination notice Regional One Health issued to the College of Medicine on December 18, 2025, in which the hospital system proposed substantive changes to the affiliation agreement between the two organizations, per the letter cited by the station.
That affiliation agreement had been in place for 12 years, the station reports, underpinning a clinical and academic relationship. Regional One Health President and CEO Dr. Reginald Coopwood responded to the letter this past Friday, describing the organizations' longstanding relationship with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center as spanning more than 100 years.
Hospital Says It's Disappointed in UT's Decision
Coopwood said Regional One Health was disappointed in UTHSC's decision regarding residents and fellows, according to the same account. He added that residents and fellows are integral to Regional One Health's mission, a mission built around training the physicians who go on to practice across the state. The university's internal medicine residency program materials say more than half of Tennessee's doctors will receive some or all of their training at Regional One Health, according to uthsc.edu.
Despite the standoff, Coopwood said Regional One Health remains committed to working with UTHSC to find a path forward and continue the partnership, the station reports. Neither side has detailed the financial terms driving the dispute, and it remains unclear exactly how the proposed changes to the affiliation agreement would reshape the relationship going forward.
A Century-Old Partnership Built Around Trauma Care
The stakes extend well beyond paperwork. UT Health Sciences faculty physicians staff the Elvis Presley Trauma Center through its partnership with Regional One Health, providing both patient care and training for residents, fellows and students, according to UTHSC's news office. The American College of Surgeons has designated that trauma center a Level 1 adult facility, the only one within 150 miles, and it treats roughly 13,000 patients a year with a 97% survival rate, according to figures Regional One Health has reported.
As one physician quoted in UTHSC's own materials put it, the residency is sponsored by the university, the fellowship is sponsored by the university, and the trauma service is a huge part of the training of the residents who rotate through Regional One. The two organizations also partnered in 2014 to form UT Regional One Physicians, an academic physician group and practice-management organization, according to a history posted by Regional One Health. Regional One Health itself traces its roots to 1829, making it the oldest health system in Tennessee, per the university's internal medicine residency program materials.
Proposed Changes to the Affiliation Agreement
The current dispute follows Regional One Health's proposal to make substantive changes to the joint affiliation agreement.
For now, the immediate consequence is specific: UT will exclude future Regional One Health resident and fellow rotations from its match program beginning in July 2027. What that means for the trauma center's day-to-day staffing, or for the pipeline through which more than half of Tennessee's doctors will receive some or all of their training at Regional One, has not been detailed by either organization.
