In fiscal year 2020, Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Health System aims to focus heavily on throughput, or how patients move throughout its hospitals, according to the Times Free Press.
During a meeting June 24, the budget and finance committee of Erlanger's board of trustees proposed making patient movement through the hospital more efficient. The committee also focused on expanding primary care services and improving infrastructure.
The budget proposal, which will be discussed and voted on June 27, earmarks $36.1 million for capital investments. Another $9 million will fund patient flow projects such as Erlanger's post-anesthesia care unit expansion, an endoscopy center at Chattanooga-based Erlanger East Hospital, MRI replacement and a nurse call system.
The investments in patient flow aim to reduce overcrowding in Erlanger's operating rooms and emergency departments, officials told the Times Free Press. Physicians who oversee care quality and safety at Erlanger recently raised concerns about overcrowding. Top physicians at Erlanger unanimously approved a no-confidence vote in several of the health system's executives last month over the issue.
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