Erlanger is a Level I trauma center, meeting Tennessee Department of Health criteria to serve as a regional resource for adult and pediatric patients with major traumatic injuries.

Erlanger LIFE FORCE helicopters provide air medical services covering 25,000 square miles in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina.

[4] The aircraft are dispatched from six bases outside of Hamilton County: Calhoun and Blue Ridge in Georgia; Sparta, Winchester, and Cleveland in Tennessee; and Andrews in North Carolina.

1889 – Baron Frédéric Emile d'Erlanger, a German-French financier with railroad holdings in Chattanooga, donates $5,000 ($170,000 in 2023 dollars) to establish the region's first permanent hospital.

[10]1891 – Community leaders hold a cornerstone ceremony to celebrate the completion of the building's foundation on a four-acre tract on Harrison Avenue, now East 3rd Street.

This transition established a new board with the ability to acquire debt, so Erlanger would no longer be solely dependent on the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County for funding.

[13] 1988 – LIFE FORCE air ambulance service begins operations and transports its first patient, a four-year-old from Sewanee, TN in a 17-minute flight to Erlanger.

[13] 2007 – U.S. President George W. Bush tours Erlanger Baroness Hospital, where he is briefed on the latest advancements in stroke treatment and receives a hands-on demonstration of the da Vinci robotic surgical system.

During a healthcare forum at the Chattanooga Convention Center, President Bush expresses admiration for Erlanger's commitment to cutting-edge care.

This was the final step in converting Chattanooga’s largest and only safety net hospital from a government to a private entity under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3).

[20] Erlanger's leadership said this transition would enable the hospital to make more rapid decisions in line with other health organizations, better provide changing outpatient or one-night services at satellite facilities, and attract additional philanthropic gifts to aid projects.