| Children’s Hospital at Erlanger | |
| Org/Group: | Erlanger Health System |
| Location: | Chattanooga |
| State: | Tennessee |
| Country: | US |
| Coordinates: | 35.0494°N -85.2924°W |
| Healthcare: | Public |
| Type: | Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center |
| Affiliation: | University of Tennessee College of Medicine |
| Beds: | 118 |
| Founded: | 1929 |
| Website: | http://www.childrensaterlanger.org |
Children's Hospital at Erlanger is a 118-bed, tertiary care children's hospital located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The hospital serves as the pediatric center of excellence for Erlanger Health System, the tenth largest public health system in the United States.[1] Children's Hospital at Erlanger treats infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0-21.[2] It is located adjacent to Erlanger Baroness Hospital, just east of downtown Chattanooga.
The initiative to create a hospital in Chattanooga for children was spearheaded in the 1920s by the city's former mayor, T.C. Thompson, working closely with the local Civitan Club. Through a $250,000 bond issue, the original children's hospital was completed in 1929 in Chattanooga's Glenwood community. The facility had 89 beds for children and 16 beds for newborn babies. After several years, the children's hospital board merged with the Erlanger hospital board, and the facility was named T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital.[3]
During the 1940s, the hospital pioneered new polio treatments, including hydrotherapy, and opened the region's first unit for premature babies. In 1975, a move to Erlanger's downtown campus made way for the region's first pediatric intensive care unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The 2000s saw a tripling of the ER size, renovated surgical suites and expanded operating rooms. In 2011, the hospital was renamed Children's Hospital at Erlanger to better reflect its role in the region, and as part of Erlanger Health System. With this change, hospital would continue to honor its founder by naming its downtown pediatric location, the "T.C. Thompson Campus."
In 2014, Erlanger leadership unveiled a 20-year plan for the largest expansion in the health system's history. The plans include a 100,000-foot children's and women's ambulatory center, and a new state-of-the-art children's and women's hospital.[4]
December 2018 marked the opening of a 90,000-square-foot pediatric outpatient facility, the Kennedy Outpatient Center. The center represents phase one of plans for a new Children's Hospital, part of a multi-year re-imagining of Erlanger's downtown campus.
Founded in 1929, Children's Hospital at Erlanger serves the medical needs of infants, children and adolescents in a 31,400 square-mile region of Southeast Tennessee, North Georgia, North Alabama, and Western North Carolina. The hospital is a Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center (CRPC), designated by the state of Tennessee to function at the highest level of pediatric medical and trauma care. It is one of four CRPCs in Tennessee.
In addition to providing general pediatric care, Children's Hospital has a board-certified medical staff representing 14 pediatric subspecialties (children's medical specialties). Critical care services for children include a 24/7 pediatric emergency department, a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for premature and sick infants.
Children's Hospital at Erlanger is a pediatric teaching hospital through Erlanger Health System's affiliation with the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. Children's Hospital physicians serve as the pediatrics department for the medical school, providing both specialty and subspecialty training.
Children's Hospital at Erlanger is a member of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, an alliance of 170 children's hospitals in North America. The network's mission is to raise funds and awareness for local children's hospitals.
In fiscal year 2023, Children's Hospital at Erlanger admitted 4,102 pediatric patients, performed 8,063 surgeries, and had 41,211 emergency room visits.[5]