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Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

Erlanger board approves budget, receives letter from hospital-employed doctors in support of CEO Spiegel

The main Erlanger campus is seen on Thursday, June 27, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The main Erlanger campus is seen on Thursday, June 27, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The main Erlanger campus is seen on Thursday, June 27, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

A dozen physicians who are employed by Erlanger Health System have written a letter to the hospital’s board of trustees expressing support for CEO Kevin Spiegel.

That letter, dated June 24, was in response to an article in the Times Free Press about another letter sent on May 9 to the board from a separate group of doctors tasked with overseeing the quality and safety of medical care at Erlanger.

The contents of the May letter are privileged under Tennessee law, but a copy was obtained by the Times Free Press.

The June letter was signed by 12 doctors from the Erlanger Medical Group, several of whom attended Erlanger’s regularly scheduled board meeting on Thursday evening. Board Chairman Mike Griffin opened the meeting by acknowledging what he called the “elephant in the room.”

“I’m disappointed that ‘the letter’ was … leaked or shared with the newspaper,” Griffin said, adding that although it wasn’t a pleasant article, it was “very fair.”