East Tennessee First Rate Healthcare
Why East Tennessee is the Best Place to Retire: First Rate Healthcare
Knoxville, being one of Tennessee’s four largest cities and the largest city in the region, is home to a number of heath systems that extend their services to East Tennesseans through their major medical centers as well as the placement of branch centers and specialty clinics around Knox and its surrounding counties. As a result, East Tennessee residents have long been the beneficiaries of cutting-edge medical technologies. With seventeen major hospitals in the area (many of them award-winning), as well as a multitude of specialty clinics, East Tennesseans have access to outstanding healthcare options.
It is hard to understate the importance of the Baptist Health System to the region. Consisting of three major hospitals, the Baptist Hospital for Women, and the Baptist Senior Center, the Baptist Health System specializes in the treatment of senior health, women’s health, as well as cancer, heart, and eye health. Baptist Health System’s flagship hospital, located in downtown Knoxville, has been repeatedly named a Top 100 Hospital and a Top 100 Cardiovascular Hospital. In 2006, renovations on this facility were completed, updating the chapel, the medical surgical unit, intensive care unit, and some waiting areas.
The Covenant Health System consists of several regional hospitals including Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Parkwest Medical Center (a Top 100 Heart Hospital), Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, Fort Loudon Medical Center, and Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center. The Thompson Cancer Survival Center provides the newest cancer treatments and diagnostics in three area locations; a fourth location is under construction at this time. Covenant Health boasts the delivery of 3,043 babies at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in 2006 (including 66 sets of twins, eight sets of triplets, and a set of quadruplets!). Also in 2006, Parkwest Medical Center graduated the largest class in history from its Peninsula Behavioral Health division.
St. Mary’s Health System includes four hospitals and a number of centers throughout East Tennessee; its flagship Medical Center has served the region for nearly 75 years providing women’s services, cancer care, orthopedics, and cardiac care, among others. A Top 100 Hospital, St. Mary’s Medical Center provides quality care with five star ratings from HealthGrades in a number of service areas. For 2007, major improvements to the System include the addition of a 72-bed acute-care facility to its North Campus, scheduled to open this fall. Also, St. Mary’s flagship campus will undergo renovations along with the new construction of a $100 million patient tower.
The University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) serves as the region’s Level I Trauma Center. An academic hospital in the University Health System, Inc., UTMC employees focus on education, including research and discovery of new and emerging treatments. The UTMC is but one of several centers in a regional network. Other centers include the Brain and Spine Institute, the Cancer Institute, the Heart Lung Vascular Institute, and the Center for Women’s Health. In 2006, UTMC opened its Heart and Stroke Center, as well as the Tom and Katherine Black neonatal intensive care unit. This $4.8 million unit added 29 private rooms for East Tennessee’s tiniest and most fragile citizens.
Click on the link below to view East Tennessee Healthcare Centers
