Erlanger Health System

Erlanger Hospital
Erlanger Health System
Erlanger Baroness Hospital
Geography
Location	Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Coordinates	35°02′53″N 85°17′23″W / 35.048176°N 85.28966°W / 35.048176; -85.28966Coordinates: 35°02′53″N 85°17′23″W / 35.048176°N 85.28966°W / 35.048176; -85.28966
Organization
Care system	Public
Hospital type	Teaching
Affiliated university	University of Tennessee College of Medicine
Services
Emergency department	Level I trauma center
Beds	813
History
Founded	1889
Links
Website	erlanger.org
Lists	Hospitals in Tennessee

The Erlanger Health System (often referred to as Erlanger Hospital or simply Erlanger) /ərlindʒər/, is a non-profit, academic health system affiliated with the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. Erlanger consists of four hospitals based in Chattanooga, Tennessee: Erlanger Baroness Hospital, Children's Hospital at Erlanger, Erlanger East Hospital and Erlanger North Hospital; as well as Erlanger Bledsoe Hospital, based in Bledsoe County, TN.

Erlanger’s 813-bed system is the only tertiary hospital and Level 1 trauma center for adults across a 31,000 square-mile region of southeast Tennessee, north Georgia, north Alabama and western North Carolina, treating more than 300,000 patients annually. Through Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, the system provides the region’s only medical facility devoted solely to children. Staffed by a range of pediatric subspecialists, this 127-bed facility features a pediatric emergency department, ICU, and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit. Erlanger also runs two community health centers: Southside Community Health Center and Dodson Avenue Community Health Center.

With a history that dates back to more than a century, Erlanger is the seventh largest public healthcare system in the United States.^[1]

Centers of Excellence

• Cardiology
• Emergency care
• Neuroscience
• Orthopaedics
• Pediatrics
• Primary care
• Surgery
• Transplant
• Trauma
• Urology
• Women’s health

Admissions & Patient Visits (Fiscal year 2013-2014)

• 30,394 inpatient admissions
• 230,765 physician office visits
• 131,978 emergency room visits

Academic Medical Center

As the primary teaching hospital for the University of Tennessee College of Medicine's Chattanooga campus, Erlanger serves as the educational training ground for 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,TN may 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 (UTC), Chattanooga State Technical Community College (CSTCC), and other regional colleges.

History

History

1889 - Baron Frédéric Emile d'Erlanger, a European financier with railroad holdings in Chattanooga, TN, donates $5,000 ($131,600 in today’s 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.

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 ($1.3 million in today’s dollars), Baroness Erlanger Hospital opens with 72 beds.^[2]

Today - The original hospital on East Third Street has grown into Erlanger Health System, an academic health system with five hospitals. On October 8, 2014, Erlanger unveiled plans to build a new children and women's hospital.^[3]

Financials

For fiscal year 2014-2015, Erlanger Health System revenues exceeded expenses by $37.4 million (Audited Financial Report, FY 2014-2015). Significant fiscal activity during the year also included the sale $149.9 million in bonds in late 2014.

Visit by President George W. Bush

On February 21, 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush toured Erlanger Baroness Hospital. Accompanied by local, state, and national elected officials, he was briefed on the latest advancements in stroke treatment and received a hands-on demonstration of the da Vinci robotic surgical system. During a healthcare forum at the Chattanooga Convention Center, President Bush expressed admiration for Erlanger’s commitment to cutting-edge care.

Accreditations and awards

Accreditations

• Accredited Hospital and Critical Access Hospital – Erlanger Health System; by The Joint Commission, 2015^[4]
• Level 1 Trauma Center – Erlanger Health System; by the State of Tennessee, 2015
• Certified Comprehensive Stroke Center - Erlanger Southeast Regional Stroke Center; by The Joint Commission, 2015^[5]
• Certified Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) Program – Erlanger Medical Center; by The Joint Commission^[6]
• Accredited Comprehensive Cancer Program - Erlanger Health System; by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, 2015^[7]
• Accredited Comprehensive Bariatric Center - Erlanger Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program; by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), 2015^[8]
• Baby-Friendly Designation - Erlanger Baroness Hospital; Baby Friendly, USA, Inc., 2015^[9]
• Accredited in Mammography and Ultrasound Center - Erlanger Imaging Mammography Center, Erlanger North Breast Center and Erlanger East Imaging; by the American College of Radiology, 2014/2015^[10]
• Accredited Clinical Hyperbaric Medicine Facility - UT Erlanger Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Center; Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, 2015^[11]
• Accredited Critical Care Air Transport Service - Erlanger LIFE FORCE Air Medical; Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transportation System (CAMTS), 2015^[12]

Awards

• Silver Plus "Get With The Guidelines" for Stroke - Erlanger Health System; from The Joint Commission, 2014^[13]
• Gold-level Certified Safe Sleep Champion – Erlanger Baroness and East Hospitals; from the Cribs for Kids® National Infant Safe Sleep Initiative, 2015^[14]
• Service of the Year Award for outstanding emergency medical services – Erlanger LIFE FORCE air medical program; from the Southeastern EMS Director’s Association, 2015

References