Erlanger Health System is entering an alliance with Vanderbilt University Medical Center and also joining a statewide group of doctors and hospitals led by Vanderbilt that hopes to cut health care costs for both individuals and businesses while improving the quality of care.
The agreement will allow Erlanger and Vanderbilt, which normally compete for patients and doctors, to form new clinical programs and services.
The network, called the Vanderbilt Health Affiliate Network, includes 56 hospitals, 35 clinics and nearly 4,000 doctors spread across Tennessee and into Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia and Mississippi. Adding Erlanger fills a large hole in the network in Southeast Tennessee.
“Erlanger is a superb hospital and health system and we are looking for great partners and they are a great partner,” said Dr. C. Wright Pinson, chairman of the board for the network and CEO of the Vanderbilt Health System. “We’re very interested in covering Chattanooga and the surrounding area. Erlanger represents an important piece of geography.”
“To have Vanderbilt say they want to partner with the largest, most comparable hospital in East Tennessee, and not with any others, is a big statement in their confidence of where we are headed,” Erlanger CEO Kevin Spiegel said. “They also believe it is going to make their network extremely strong to have Erlanger be a part of it.”