Elizabeth Fite

Hamilton County leaders see the potential for more specialists, technology and medical training as Erlanger Health seeks to join a much larger health system headquartered in South Carolina — but they also want reassurance their local hospital will remain recognizable and accountable to Chattanoogans.

Erlanger Health could become part of one of the Southeast's largest nonprofit health systems under a proposed partnership with South Carolina-based Prisma Health, a move leaders say would bring $2 billion in investments over 15 years and transform Chattanooga's flagship safety-net hospital.

Dentist Jon Salinas didn't learn Hamilton County would refer displaced patients to his practice until weeks after officials had already announced plans to close the county's dental clinic but said he welcomes the opportunity to treat them.

CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital is experiencing delays in radiology services that have affected patient imaging appointments and increased wait times for some scans, according to a public statement from the health system.

Barry Large, a Chattanooga entrepreneur and businessman, has been named chair of the Erlanger board of directors, according to an announcement by the nonprofit health system.

The Tennessee Department of Health has released the first schedule of competitive grant opportunities tied to the state's $206.9 million federal Rural Health Transformation Program.

Friday is the deadline for participants in Erlanger's pension fund to postmark election packets to either start receiving their benefits in April or defer to retirement age.

Amid a nationwide mental health crisis and calls for increased gun control, some Tennessee lawmakers want to bolster the state's ability to mandate psychiatric treatment and monitor certain offenders with diagnosed mental illness or intellectual disability.

Much about the Center for Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery Center is akin to a hospital: the long hallways lined with 40 patient bays, the 10 operating rooms outfitted with the latest technology and the complex surgical procedures performed within its walls.

Bliss Welch was 17 years old when she began struggling to climb steps and noticing her legs locking when she walked.