The ribbon was cut at the new Greene County Health Department at 750 Edens Road in Tusculum on Thursday.
Located behind the former Greene Valley Developmental Center on a 330+ acre site now owned by the Greene County-Greeneville-Tusculum Industrial Development Board, the over $6 million dollar facility replaces the building located near the West Andrew Johnson Highway and Church Street intersection in Greeneville that served as the Health Department since 1974. The new 12,000 square-foot facility opened on July 20.
The building was funded mostly by the Tennessee Department of Health and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The Greene County Commission allocated $1 million in matching funds for the construction of the facility. A groundbreaking on the project was held in January 2025.
The Greene County Health Department is nearing its 200th anniversary after beginning operations in 1928 in response to a typhoid outbreak according to Northeast Tennessee Regional Health Department Director Rebekah English. In 1958, the local Health Department began operating on Union Street in Greeneville until moving to a then-new facility in 1974 where Governor Winfield Dunn spoke at the dedication.
A different Dunn, Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. John Dunn, spoke at Thursday’s groundbreaking. Dunn noted the new health department facility would help fulfill the state agency’s mission to protect, promote, and improve the health and well-being of all people in Tennessee.
Dr. John Dunn
Greene County Health Department Director Beth Denney, who took over the role in June, said the new facility marked a new chapter in the health department’s long history of service.
Beth Denney
The new facility, designed by architecture firm Benefield-Richters and constructed by Merritt Construction, features 10 exam rooms, a dentistry wing with multiple exam rooms, a large nurses’ station and two small nurses’ stations, lab space, telemedicine capabilities, a large community room, an outdoor drive-through canopy, office spaces, and a welcoming waiting area. The facility is intentionally designed as a one-level facility in an effort to make it more accessible.
Radio Greeneville toured the facility during after the ceremony, and photos from the new facility and ribbon-cutting ceremony can be found in the gallery below.
Greene County Health Department services include primary care, family planning, prenatal care, dental services, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) services, immunizations, vital records, and sexually transmitted infections care.
In attendance at the ribbon cutting were Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison, Greeneville Mayor Cal Doty, Tusculum Mayor Alan Corley, State Senator Steve Southerland, State Representative David Hawk, County Commissioners Paul Burkey and Jan Kiker, and Tusculum Commissioner Barbara Britton. Also in attendance were health department employees, EMS officials, Tusculum Volunteer Fire Department officials, state department of health officials, other county employees, and some members of the public.
