Erlanger Boards

Authority Board

H. Kennedy Conner

Chair - County

Cory Gearrin

County

Jeff Hollingsworth

County

Rebecca Hunter

Legislative Delegation

Christopher Poole, MD

Chief of Staff

David Queen, CPA

Legislative Delegation

Erlanger Board Certified by Tennessee Hospital Association * As part of legislation revising Erlanger’s governance structure, Chapter 72 of the Private Acts of 2014, effective June 4, 2014, the number of Board of Trustees was reduced from 12 to 11 members and the appointments previously held by the City of Chattanooga and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society were reallocated.  The appointment held by the Chancellors of the Chancery Court was eliminated.  Such legislation further provides that the Trustees appointed by those entities shall remain as members of the Board of Trustees for remainder of their respective terms.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority Board of Trustees was one of the first boards in the State of Tennessee to receive certification from the Tennessee Hospital Association.  Ms. Mary Layne Van Cleave from THA presented certificates to the Board at the November 29, 2007 board meeting at Erlanger.  Certification is achieved by individual board members completing specialized education regarding their roles and responsibilities.  The board received recertification at THA's Annual meeting in November 2011 .

The board presently holds a monthly public meeting at the Baroness Campus to consider and approve resolutions effecting the business and affairs of the Authority. It also has a number of very active committees that work to review, study, organize and prepare the items to be considered by the board.

Background

Erlanger originally had a five-man Board of Trustees that was charged with operating the hospital, but had no authority to borrow money. Though Erlanger was expected to provide indigent care to area citizens, it could only ask for money from local government and other sources, and shift net revenue from paying patients to cover indigent care costs.

In 1970, Dr. David P. McCallie proposed a larger Board of Trustees. County Judge Chester Frost submitted a bill to the County Legislative Delegation to create an 11-member Board. No action was taken on the bill in 1971.

Dr. McCallie became Chairman of Erlanger's Board in 1975, advocating the formation of a governmental hospital authority. All Erlanger property would be transferred to the authority, and Erlanger would no longer be totally dependent upon the City and County for funding. The authority would be able to pledge authority assets and would be responsible for paying the debt.

In 1976, hospital officials began an aggressive campaign to inform the public and employees about the need to create a hospital authority. The bill became law in 1976 when the legislature of the State of Tennessee passed the Private Acts establishing the Authority. In June, a steering committee was named to gather support for the Hospital Authority Referendum.

In August 1976, the citizens of Hamilton County approved the creation of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority by a 64 percent margin, transferring Erlanger from the City and County to the Authority.

The Act creating the Authority states it is formed to perform the governmental function of owning and operating the Baroness Erlanger Hospital, T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital and other similar or associated hospitals and existing health centers as deemed appropriate to be operated by the Authority as sole operator for the purpose of providing healthcare facilities and programs for the residents of Hamilton County, Tennessee.