STATE APPROVALErlanger hospital first received state approval for a $68.7 million expansion at Erlanger East in 2004 that was good for four years, said Jim Cristoffersen, deputy general counsel for the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency. The agency approves health care facilities’ proposed projects and purchases through a certificate of need process.In 2008 Erlanger requested a two-year extension of its certificate of need, which extended the hospital’s deadline to Dec. 1, 2010.The original expansion request included a new four-story patient tower, the addition of cardiac catheterization capabilities and the upgrade of an existing quick-care clinic to a full-scale emergency room, Mr. Cristoffersen said.
A proposed expansion of Erlanger East hospital in East Brainerd is moving forward seven years after the project first received board approval.
Hospital trustees soon will consider the next step of the multimillion-dollar expansion: the addition of a 24-hour emergency department at Erlanger’s campus on Gunbarrel Road. Erlanger East today offers primarily obstetrical and gynecological care.
The Erlanger East expansion is part of Erlanger’s overall strategic plan, which concentrates on building a niche area for each hospital campus, executives said.
For example, Erlanger North – which closed to new medical and surgical admissions in 2009, in part due to low patient volume – has a thriving inpatient geriatric psychiatric unit and is focusing on providing care to elderly patients.