Erlanger Health System


The Erlanger Health System, incorporated as the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority, a non-profit, public benefit corporation registered in the State of Tennessee, is an academic system of hospitals, physicians, and medical services based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Erlanger is a tertiary referral hospital and Level I Trauma Center serving a region of East Tennessee, North Georgia, North Alabama, and western North Carolina. The system's critical care services are accessible to patients within a radius through five LIFE FORCE air ambulance helicopters, each equipped to perform in-flight surgical procedures and transfusions.
Founded in 1889, Erlanger is a large public healthcare system with more than half a million patient visits a year.

Academic affiliation

As the primary teaching hospital for the University of Tennessee College of Medicine's Chattanooga campus, Erlanger trains physicians enrolled annually in the medical college's residency and fellowship programs. Enrollment for the 2015–2016 academic year includes 176 residents and 13 fellows. Medical students from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis may also elect a variety of clinical rotations at Erlanger. Nursing students, paramedic students, and many other allied health students also train at Erlanger in conjunction with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga State Technical Community College, and other regional colleges.

Level I Trauma Center

As a Level I trauma center, Erlanger meets state and national criteria to serve as a comprehensive regional resource for adult and pediatric patients suffering from major traumatic injuries. Erlanger is one of six Level 1 trauma centers in the state of Tennessee.
Erlanger serves as an essential safety net for the region, ensuring access to care for underserved and uninsured populations. The system provided $85 million in uncompensated care during fiscal year 2014–2015.

Hospitals, facilities, and practices

Erlanger's six LIFE FORCE helicopters enable the health system to reach critically injured or ill patients within a 100-mile radius of Chattanooga.
Erlanger dispatches the aircraft from six bases outside of Hamilton County: Calhoun and Blue Ridge in Georgia; Sparta, Winchester, and Cleveland in Tennessee; and Andrews in North Carolina. The helicopters then transport pediatric and adult patients to Erlanger's Level I Trauma Center at Baroness Hospital in Chattanooga.
Each aircraft is staffed by specialized flight nurses and paramedics, and is equipped to carry blood and perform in-flight surgical procedures.
In fiscal year 2014-2015, LIFE FORCE transported 2,143 patients to and from Erlanger hospitals.
LIFE FORCE began operations at Erlanger in December 1988. In 2008, Med-Trans Corp., a Dallas-based air medical provider, began operating the program under a 10-year lease agreement.
LIFE FORCE uses Eurocopter EC-135 and Bell 407 helicopters.

Specialized Centers of Excellence">Center of excellence">Centers of Excellence

As a tertiary hospital that receives primary and secondary referrals, Erlanger provides specialized medical care, research, and educational training in the following clinical centers of excellence:
1889 – Baron Frédéric Emile d'Erlanger, a German financier with railroad holdings in Chattanooga, donates $5,000 to establish the region's first permanent hospital.
1890 – Civic leaders work to raise the rest of the money to build the facility, and begin construction on a four-acre tract on Harrison Avenue, now East 3rd Street.
1891 – Community leaders hold a cornerstone ceremony to celebrate completion of the building's foundation. They decide to name the facility in honor of the Baron's Southern-born wife, Baroness Marguerite Mathilde Slidell d’Erlanger.
1899 – At a cost of $50,000, Baroness Erlanger Hospital opens with 72 beds.
1957 – The two oldest portions of the hospital, the original west and central wings, are razed to make way for expanded in-patient and surgical facilities.
1958 – Pediatrician James Hicks Corey, Jr, MD, becomes Chief of Staff for Children’s Hospital, a position he holds for 40 years.
1964 – Dr. Minnie Vance and Dr. Eleanor Stafford, two of the first female pediatricians in Chattanooga, open one of the first waiting rooms in the city and were at the forefront of promoting diversity within the hospital.
1965 – Dr. Hossein Massoud becomes Medical Director of Children's Hospital, a position he holds for 31 years, growing pediatric subspecialty programs which cover the spectrum of pediatric care.
1975 – Children’s Hospital becomes a part of Erlanger and relocated to the downtown campus.
1976 – The region’s first pediatric intensive care unit opens.
2007 – U.S. President George W. Bush tours Erlanger Baroness Hospital, where he is briefed on the latest advancements in stroke treatment and receives a hands-on demonstration of the da Vinci robotic surgical system. During a healthcare forum at the Chattanooga Convention Center, President Bush expresses admiration for Erlanger's commitment to cutting-edge care.
2014 – Erlanger announces plans for the largest expansion in its history. The six-phase, 20-year master facilities plan includes a $51 million expansion of Erlanger East Hospital, a children's and women's ambulatory center, an stroke and neurosciences center, a new Children's and Women's hospital, and a health sciences center to house the Chattanooga facilities of UT College of Medicine.
2016 – In a year marking the health system's 125 year of service to the region, Erlanger and Vanderbilt University Medical Center enter a strategic affiliation agreement creating a collaborative relationship between the two institutions. As part of the agreement, Erlanger also joined the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, to facilitate greater care coordination, including population health and wellness initiatives. In Nov. of 2016, the health system completed a $50 million expansion of Erlanger East Hospital, creating the region's first full-service, lifestyle hospital, That month Erlanger also launched a new Heart and Lung Institute, expanding the health system's cardiovascular team, capabilities, and facilities.
2017 – Community and health system officials break ground on a pediatric outpatient center at Erlanger's downtown campus. The facility is phase one of plans for a new Children's Hospital at Erlanger.
2018 – On April 1, 2018 Erlanger assumed operation of Murphy Medical Center in Murphy, North Carolina, and soon renamed the facility Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital. It is the health system's sixth hospital and its first outside of Tennessee. December 2018 marked the opening of a pediatric outpatient facility, the Kennedy Outpatient Center, located at Erlanger's downtown campus.The facility is phase one of plans for a new Children's Hospital at Erlanger in Chattanooga.

Statistics

For fiscal year ended June 30, 2018,
Accreditations
Awards