GCMI Signs Partnership Agreement With West Tennessee Healthcare

Collaborative Relationship Will Help Bring New Medical Devices to Fruition

Atlanta, GA (Marketwired) - The Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a comprehensive medical device innovation center featuring design, engineering and prototyping services, has signed a partnership agreement with West Tennessee Healthcare, one of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in the nation. The two organizations will work together to identify, develop and promote medical technology innovation in Jackson, TN, which is West Tennessee Healthcare's headquarters.

Through this relationship, West Tennessee Healthcare and GCMI will unite universities, industry, investors and state and local economic development organizations to build a consortium between Memphis and Nashville that is focused on medical device innovation and commercialization. GCMI will work with West Tennessee Healthcare to facilitate education, design, engineering and prototyping, as well as general medical device commercialization.

"West Tennessee Healthcare is deeply committed to improving the healthcare needs of the residents of West Tennessee, but we firmly believe that we also have a responsibility to benefit patients everywhere," said Lisa Piercey, MD, Vice President of West Tennessee Healthcare. "We can fulfill that mission and support economic development in our communities by assisting our local medical device innovators in bringing their concepts to market. GCMI is a valuable regional resource that will play an integral role in this initiative."

GCMI will work closely with West Tennessee Healthcare, the Jackson Chamber and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to bring together local, regional and national experts to nurture medical device innovation. "I am enthusiastic about the opportunities that exist in the Jackson region to serve early stage medical innovations. This partnership creates the right ecosystem to build a sustainable program that will help and encourage new healthcare companies to form and prosper," said Clay Banks, Regional Director for the State of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

"Medical innovation will become a strong economic driver for the Jackson region," added Kyle Spurgeon, President and CEO of the Jackson Chamber. "This partnership will allow us to connect entrepreneurs to resources that will potentially bring to market new ideas and new products. Those products can be produced and manufactured here, resulting in the creation of new, higher wage jobs."

A key component of the development program will be an education series designed to address the issues facing entrepreneurial physicians, surgeons and clinicians who are interested in medical device development and commercialization.

"This partnership with West Tennessee Healthcare embodies GCMI's mission of bringing together members of the medical device community to accelerate the commercialization of innovative medical device technologies to improve care and benefit patients," said Tiffany Wilson Karp, GCMI General Manager and COO. "The Southeast is rapidly becoming one of the nation's leading centers for medical device development, and we're pleased to help facilitate the region's growth."

About West Tennessee Healthcare
Located 130 miles southwest of Nashville in Jackson, Tennessee, West Tennessee Healthcare is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving 18 rural western Tennessee counties with a combined population of approximately 500,000. Modern Healthcare magazine listed West Tennessee Healthcare as one of the 10 largest public, not-for-profit healthcare systems in the United States. Employing more than 5,000, West Tennessee Healthcare provides a full compendium of patient care services. www.wth.net.

About the Global Center for Medical Innovation
The Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) is an independent, not-for-profit, full-service product development organization -- the first and only one of its kind in the Southeast. The center helps new-product teams enhance their product development, shorten time to market, and achieve significant cost savings throughout the process. GCMI was one of six winners of a national i6 Challenge focused on driving commercialization and innovation in the U.S. in an effort to move great ideas from the lab to the patient, creating jobs and economic growth. www.devices.net.