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Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12

Cooper: Of Erlanger, water and politics

Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg picked up the endorsement of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke on Wednesday and also broke his silence on the discovery on 2,200 fetuses discovered last week in the home of a South Bend abortionist.
Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg picked up the endorsement of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke on Wednesday and also broke his silence on the discovery on 2,200 fetuses discovered last week in the home of a South Bend abortionist. Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg picked up the endorsement of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke on Wednesday and also broke his silence on the discovery on 2,200 fetuses discovered last week in the home of a South Bend abortionist.

– Dr. William Jackson, the man given a one-year contract to run Erlanger Health System Wednesday, in his previous position as chief medical officer, oversaw hospital quality, safety, physician services, and inpatient and outpatient care delivery, among other things.

A letter sent by Erlanger’s Medical Executive Committee to Board of Trustees Chairman Mike Griffin in May expressed “no confidence in the structure of the current Executive Leadership to ensure quality and safety of patient care” provided in the hospital’s downtown emergency department.

Are we to assume the committee wasn’t including Jackson in its indictment?

Last week, Erlanger CEO Kevin Spiegel resigned. At a special called meeting of the hospital board Wednesday, members voted to award Spiegel a year’s salary in severance and the cash equivalent of continuing health care benefits for him, the largest severance package ever given a departing Erlanger CEO.

The board will discuss Jackson’s compensation next week.