Erlanger has been an indispensable medical service provider for Chattanooga and the surrounding region for well over a century.
It got its start when a French nobleman, Baron Frederic Emile d’Erlanger, donated $5,000 for a new hospital here. The facility would be named for the baron’s Louisiana-native wife, Baroness Marguerite Mathilde Slidell d’Erlanger. The hospital opened with 72 beds in 1899.
There has been enormous progress and expansion since then, of course, illustrated by the fact that today Erlanger Health System includes five campuses: North, East/Women’s East, Bledsoe, and the Baroness campus in downtown Chattanooga, which includes Children’s Hospital.
Erlanger also operates two valuable community health centers: Southside and Dodson Avenue.
So there is no disputing Erlanger’s important role in promoting and protecting the health of area residents – and there is no doubt that Erlanger, as well as a number of other excellent local hospitals, will continue to fill that role ably.