Your Fed, Your Voice: Rory Thomas

Seema Sheth: Hey, everybody, and welcome. This is Your Fed, Your Voice. I’m Seema Sheth, regional executive with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. And today, I’m super excited for our conversation, because we’re going to explore the intersectionality between health care and community development. I have a phenomenal guest with us today. His name is Rory Thomas. And he’s the president and CEO of the Memphis Medical District Collaborative. Rory, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here with us today.

Rory Thomas: Oh, thank you for having me.

Sheth: Of course. I got to start with a deep and hard-hitting question, which is, what is the Memphis Medical District Collaborative? I’m sure many people aren’t that familiar. So if you could just elucidate that for us to begin, that’d be great.

Thomas: Oh, sure. Well, the Memphis Medical District Collaborative– a nonprofit agency started in 2016 to work with the hospitals and the colleges and the medical district to make it a better place to live, work, learn and play. The area really suffered a lot of decline and disinvestment in the area. So these organizations, rather than working in silos, decided to come together, form this nonprofit agency, along with some philanthropic organizations, to really revitalize this area, make it cleaner, safer, more vibrant and equitable for everyone.

Sheth: So give me an example of what organizations are involved in the collaborative.

Thomas: Oh, yeah. Well, first of all, Memphis– everyone knows St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The second-largest private employer is Methodist Le Bonheur Hospital in Memphis. So they have six locations. Regional One Health, a large organization that’s really the Level 1 trauma center for a 150-mile radius– so not just Tennessee, but Arkansas, Mississippi people come there as well. The colleges that we have– UT, Southwestern Tennessee Community College, Southern College of Optometry and also Baptist Health Sciences University. So these institutions– they have over 25,000 employees and 8,000 students, control over 400 acres of land– so definitely our major anchor institutions, and proud to work with them.

Sheth: We use data to inform not only the monetary policy decisions that we make but also as a way to keep a pulse on what’s happening in the economy. I can imagine for you all, data is also very important. Can you share with me how that’s informing the work that you do?

Thomas: Data is critically important. And for us, we want to hear– get that primary research. So we do– no matter the project– we may have focus groups or what have you. But we do an annual survey. So it goes to the students, to the employees and to the residents of the medical district to see what they want to see happening in the district, the perceptions about things, such as safety and other opportunities as well, public spaces, walkability, and so forth. And we report that data to our board of directors each year. And it helps inform our strategic plan going forward.

Sheth: One of the things that we also do is we want to know what’s going on on Main Street. We want to know what’s going on in our nonprofit communities. And you are a member of CDAC. So can you tell me a little bit about what that experience was like and what you think the Fed has gained from being able to listen to folks like you?

Thomas: Probably one of the best experiences that I’ve had in my professional career– of being on that committee. And it’s really great that the Fed wants to hear from Main Street people, boots on the ground, about what’s taking place and even just sending out questions before we come to meetings. So not just going to St. Louis but you all coming to Memphis, going to Louisville, Little Rock as well, and learn about those communities, taking trips to those communities, and realizing some of the issues that you may be having in your city. Others are having it, but being able to share about solutions that you may be doing or another city is doing has been critically important.

Sheth: So now we’ve talked about people. And now I want to talk about the non-people that are on everybody’s mind. And that is agentic AI. I’m curious– St. Louis Fed research found that 44% of metro hospitals are using AI in their daily operations already in 2026. So what are you seeing in terms of AI adoption amongst hospitals? And are you using it at all at the collaborative?

Thomas: Efficiency is always critically important. And just knowing things about health care with the pandemic– we know challenges that hospitals have had in which cost of care went up dramatically as well, but you’re not able to charge to keep up with the cost of care, labor costs, and so forth. So it allowed health care to really look at ways to become more efficient. And I’ve seen that really, really take place. But also, of– streamlining opportunities for people to land jobs at hospitals has been a great use as well for AI. So we have a Hire Local program that we work with the hospitals to be able to get living wage jobs for residents who live so close to these hospitals and being able to have that program that’s really employer-driven. Part of the lessons and learnings are about AI and how they’re going to be able to use that in their organization. I know for some, even a lot of their employees have for their performance goals of how they’re using AI as well. So it’s here to stay. And being able to work with the hospitals to be on the cutting edge as we help train the future workforce creates a win-win and an advantage for our residents to land those jobs.

Sheth: The collaborative seems to have made such an incredible impact in your community. And the Eighth District spans over seven states. And we have these home offices in Louisville– in our branch offices, rather, in Louisville, in Little Rock, and in Arkansas, and then, of course, home office in St. Louis. And I’m curious what you think not only those communities, but the communities in the seven states that we serve, might learn from your model. What should people be taking away and maybe enacting in their own communities?

Thomas: Well, for us, it’s always about the power of collaboration. And I think for– traveling with CDAC– and it’s always shared that, hey, organizations work in silos. But our great example of sustained collaboration over a decade and the impact that can have– I think it’s always important to focus on people and place. So part of it– if you want to have investments in the community, having a clean, safe, vibrant place– it really helps attract a lot of investment to the area. But also for the residents that you have there, you– as the area grows, you do not want them to be displaced. So giving them opportunities to land jobs with clear career paths and not just be renters but also homeowners– bringing amenities to that area can really, really just have an effect that really elevates the entire area. So collaboration is something that I like to share that really– can really help transform any type of community as well.

Sheth: And what gives you optimism when you think about the future of the city you call home?

Thomas: Well, to take a slogan from our Memphis Grizzlies, the grit and the grind. We are a blue-collar town. And there are certain perceptions about Memphis from the outside. But I think every person that has come to our city as a tourist or come here to work just really loves our town. So whether it is the food, the music, the culture, everything about Memphis, I think once you get here, you want to stay here as well. So this is a very resilient city. And I’m looking forward to our city continuing to grow.

Sheth: Well, this has been a phenomenal conversation. Thank you so much for taking some time to share your work and a little about yourself with us. For those of you that are listening, thank you so much for being a part of the Your Fed, Your Voice family and for listening along. If you haven’t, please remember to like and subscribe and send this podcast to a friend who hasn’t heard it already. And again, thank you so much, Rory, for being a part of the podcast. Until next time, I’m Seema Sheth. And this has been Your Fed, Your Voice.

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