Nashville hospital budget creates rift

A budget meeting about Nashville's struggling safety-net hospital ended on an emotional note, with the city's finance director hotly accusing the hospital chief of distorting Mayor Karl Dean's position. The exchange came after a Metro Council midyear budget hearing with the city's hospital authority, which runs Nashville General Hospital at Meharry. Dean recently sent a letter to the authority chairman saying the city must find a better method of funding the heavily subsidized, cash-strapped medical center.