Erlanger Health System

Erlanger (often referred to as Erlanger Hospital, Erlanger Health, or Erlanger Health System) is an independent, non-profit health system and safety net hospital based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The health system's main location, Erlanger Baroness Hospital in downtown Chattanooga, is a tertiary referral hospital and Level I Trauma Center serving a 50,000 sq mi (130,000 km²) (125 mi (201 km) radius) region of East Tennessee, North Georgia, North Alabama, and western North Carolina.

Erlanger
Erlanger Health
Erlanger Baroness Hospital
Geography
Location	Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Coordinates	35.0482°N 85.2897°W / 35.0482; -85.2897
Organization
Care system	Independent, non-profit 501(c)(3)
Type	Teaching
Affiliated university	University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine
Services
Emergency department	Level I trauma center
Beds	813
History
Opened	1889
Links
Website	erlanger.org
Lists	Hospitals in Tennessee

Academic affiliation

Erlanger is the primary teaching hospital for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's College of Medicine Chattanooga. UTHSC College of Medicine Chattanooga trains physicians enrolled annually in the medical college's residency and fellowship programs. Medical students from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis may also elect clinical rotations at Erlanger. Nursing, paramedic, and allied health students train at Erlanger in conjunction with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), Chattanooga State Technical Community College (CSTCC), and other regional colleges.

Level I Trauma Center

The Tennessee Department of Health has designated Erlanger a Level I trauma center, meeting criteria to serve as a regional resource for adult and pediatric patients with major traumatic injuries. Erlanger is one of six Level I trauma centers in Tennessee.

Hospitals, facilities, and practices

• Erlanger Baroness Hospital is Erlanger's medical, academic, and administrative headquarters, located just east of downtown Chattanooga. Baroness Hospital includes a Level I trauma center, in-patient and surgical departments, and an ambulatory care center.
• Children's Hospital at Erlanger is a Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center (CRPC) located next to Erlanger Baroness Hospital. It offers pediatric subspecialties, a pediatric trauma unit, children's emergency department, and a Level IIII Neonatal Intensive Care Unit⠀⠀
• Erlanger East Hospital is a community hospital serving the East Chattanooga and Brainerd areas. It offers specialty care, emergency medicine, primary care, surgery, and women's services (OB/GYN).
• Erlanger North Hospital is a community hospital serving the Signal Mountain, Red Bank, and North Chattanooga communities. It offers 24/7 emergency care, sports and family medicine practices, an inpatient seniors program, and an accredited sleep disorders center.
• Erlanger Bledsoe Hospital is a community and safety net hospital in Pikeville, Tennessee. It serves residents of a rural three-county area along the Cumberland Plateau and Sequatchie Valley. Services include emergency care, family medicine, a cardiac rehabilitation program, and a 25-bed inpatient unit.
• Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital (formerly Murphy Medical Center), based in Murphy, North Carolina, is a 25-bed critical access hospital with an emergency department, wound care services, urgent care, and athletic/rehabilitation centers. The hospital provides inpatient and outpatient medical services for a seven-county region in western North Carolina, North Georgia, and East Tennessee.
• Erlanger Behavioral Health Hospital is an 88-bed mental health facility providing access to psychiatric and addiction services. Established through a joint venture with Acadia Healthcare, the hospital opened in June 2018.
• The Southside and Dodson Avenue Community Health Centers are safety-net clinical care providers operating under comprehensive federal standards.
• Erlanger Sequatchie Valley in Dunlap, Tennessee, offers primary care and 24/7 emergency services, as well as weekly clinics for cardiology, orthopaedics, and women's health.
• Erlanger at Volkswagen Drive is a multi-use health and wellness center that includes a family practice, a fitness center, adult urgent care, and childcare facility.
• Erlanger Medical Group is the health system's physician practice consisting of more than 200 employed physicians in 56 locations. Physicians in this group also teach medical students through Erlanger's affiliation with UT College of Medicine.

Life Force Air Medical

Bell 407 taking off from Life Force 4 base in McCaysville, GA

Erlanger's six Life Force helicopters enable the health system to reach critically injured or ill patients within a 150-mile radius of Chattanooga.

The aircraft are dispatched 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 the most appropriate receiving hospital, usually Baroness Hospital.

Each aircraft is staffed by specialized flight nurses and paramedics, who are equipped to carry blood and perform life-saving 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 aviation aspects of the program under a 10-year lease agreement.

On March 9, 2023, the Andrews-based Life Force 6 EC-135 helicopter crashed in Macon County, North Carolina. This was the first crash of any Life Force helicopter. All operations of Life Force were suspended, and operations were back up on March 14, with the exception of Life Force 6. Life Force 6 resumed operations on April 11, under a non-Life Force branded EC-135.

Life Force uses Eurocopter EC-135 (now Airbus Helicopters H135) and Bell 407 helicopters.

Specialized Medical Departments

Children's Hospital at Erlanger opened the Kennedy Outpatient Center in December of 2018

Erlanger is a tertiary hospital that receives primary and secondary referrals. The hospital system provides medical care, research, and educational training in specialized departments that include neuroscience, neurosurgery, trauma, surgery, pediatrics (through Children's Hospital at Erlanger), orthopedics, urology, oncology, cardiology, emergency medicine, primary care, pulmonology/ critical care, rheumatology, endocrinology, women’s health (OB/GYN), and bariatric surgery.

History

1889 – Baron Frédéric Emile d'Erlanger, a German-French financier with railroad holdings in Chattanooga, donates $5,000 ($170,000 in 2023 dollars) 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.

Photo of Erlanger Hospital taken in the late 19th century

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 ($1.8 million in 2023 dollars), 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 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m²) children's and women's ambulatory center, an 85,000 sq ft (7,900 m²) 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 (VUMC) 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. 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 90,000 sq ft (8,400 m²) 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 90,000 sq ft (8,400 m²) 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.