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| VUMC, Central Parking part ways by Getahn Ward |
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Vanderbilt University Medical Center is bringing its parking and shuttle operations in-house, ending a relationship with homegrown Central Parking Corp. that had lasted more than 30 years.
The move, effective next month, will affect 200 Central Parking employees, 90 percent of whom have moved over to work for Vanderbilt.
Officials said they hope bringing the operations in-house will ease logistical challenges created by growth of the Vanderbilt medical complex.
Under the parking management contract, Central Parking had provided staffing for parking garages, valet attendants and drivers for shuttle buses that Vanderbilt itself has owned. This year alone, the medical center is expected to provide valet service for more than 420,000 vehicles.
"The valet service is such an important component of our customer service process (that) we desired greater control," said John Howser, a Vanderbilt spokesman.
Including valet and self-parking, the medical center has more than 2.6 million patient or visitor vehicle visits a year.
Vanderbilt and Central Parking wouldn\'t disclose the value of the contract, which could be among the biggest for the nation\'s largest parking-lot operator in its hometown.
After the contract expires at the end of this month, Central Parking will still support on-campus special events, Howser said.
Central Parking also manages the bulk of the parking spaces in downtown Nashville.
For many years, the company\'s longtime former chairman and chief executive, the late Monroe J. Carell Jr., was a Vanderbilt trustee, key donor and fundraiser. He remains the namesake of the university\'s children\'s hospital.
Before his death three years ago, then publicly traded Central Parking, in which the Carells controlled a significant stake, was acquired along with the family\'s shares by private equity investors.
Emanuel J. Eads, who took over from Carell as CEO, retired early last year after 35 years with the company.
Today, the Carell family isn\'t involved with Central Parking, but family members are still involved with Vanderbilt, holding seats on various boards and recently funding an endowed chair.
In addition to the 180 former Central Parking employees that Vanderbilt hired, roughly 20 others either left through attrition or weren\'t picked during the university\'s hiring process, Howser said.
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