A vacant Rite Aid at the corner of S. Church Street and Warrior Drive in south Murfreesboro is now the site of a proposed 24/7 freestanding emergency room, with redevelopment plans currently under review by the city’s planning department. The City of Murfreesboro confirmed it received the proposal to convert the long-empty pharmacy building into a new HCA TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center emergency facility, according to a Development Spotlight update the city posted to Facebook.
The city’s City of Murfreesboro, TN – Government Facebook page said plans were submitted to the city in June and remain under review, as part of a recurring Development Spotlight series intended to give residents updates on projects happening throughout Murfreesboro. The proposal follows a major regulatory win for TriStar StoneCrest: on September 24, 2025, the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission unanimously granted state Certificate of Need approval for the freestanding emergency department at the south Murfreesboro site, according to WGNS Radio. Under Tennessee law, freestanding emergency departments must demonstrate clear community needs to obtain that approval.
A Trauma-Ready Facility Built From a Former Pharmacy
The proposed ER is designed as a $19 million, 11-treatment-room facility that would include a trauma room, a full-service laboratory, an advanced imaging department, and a three-bay ground transport base, according to TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center. It would operate as an extension of TriStar StoneCrest’s main hospital in Smyrna, a 119-bed acute care facility with roughly 500 affiliated physicians across more than 45 specialties. Patients who need to be admitted would be transferred directly to StoneCrest or an affiliated network hospital, per the same source.
The building itself has sat empty for years. Originally constructed as an Eckerd Drug store in 2007, the property later operated as a Rite Aid before closing in 2018 and remaining vacant for eight years leading up to the 2026 redevelopment filing, according to the Malls and Retail Wiki. It sits at the intersection of S. Church Street and Warrior Drive, a heavily trafficked corridor in the Barfield neighborhood.
Why South Murfreesboro Needed the ER
The push for a south-side emergency room grew out of demand data TriStar cited during the state review. In 2024, more than 8,000 Murfreesboro residents had to travel roughly 15 miles north to TriStar StoneCrest’s main emergency department in Smyrna to get emergency care, WGNS Radio reported. South Murfreesboro residents previously faced 20-to-30-minute travel times just to reach the nearest ER…