COMMUNITY PROFILES
Transportation, education, and healthcare services are highly developed and well-managed throughout metropolitan Memphis. The city has long been called the “logistics capital” of America, enjoying a strategic location at the intersection of the nation’s major east/west and north/south routes: Interstate 40 and Interstate 55, respectively. Seven US highways converge in Memphis, and Interstate 240 encircles the city as a convenient bypass of inner-city routes. In addition to a new outside expressway loop, Memphis will be strategically situated along the new Interstate 69 from Canada to Mexico. Commuters have the advantage of convenient fixed-route bus service and a downtown trolley system, and travelers are efficiently served by the Memphis International Airport.
Quality public and private schools on every academic level include more than 15 local colleges, universities, and technical institutions. The Memphis Campus for Belhaven College, Christian Brothers University, Crichton College, LeMoyne Owen College, the Baptist College of Health Sciences, Blue Mountain College, Memphis College of Art, Remington College, Rhodes College, Rust College, and the Southern College of Optometry are all private institutions of higher education within the metropolitan region. State-supported institutions include community college campuses, the University of Memphis, and the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center.
The powerful presence of leading-edge colleges for the health sciences is an ideal complement to world-class healthcare resources. Downtown Memphis is home to the Nobel Prize-winning St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, distinguished as one of the world’s finest centers for research and treatment of catastrophic diseases in children. The Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation operates several hospitals and support facilities in the metro area, including a cornerstone tertiary-care teaching institution that is closely affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center. BMHCC recently opened Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women, one of a select few free-standing women’s hospitals in the nation. The Methodist Healthcare system encompasses state-of-the-art hospitals and the Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center. The Regional Medical Center adds the region’s only Level 1 trauma center, while Tenet Health operates St. Francis Hospital on two campuses. Every healthcare need, from routine to the most advanced, can be met close to home.
