Cherokee County’s first medical institution was Petrie Hospital, founded in November 1933 by Dr. R.W. Petrie, an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist. The hospital was a two-story white brick building atop a hill on Peachtree Street in downtown Murphy. It started with four registered nurses and a capacity of 21 patients. The
Sisters of Providence of Holyoke came to Murphy in 1956 to manage Petrie Hospital and renamed it Providence Hospital. The 22-bed Murphy General Hospital was built by Dr. F. V. Taylor in 1941 and closed in July 1969 due to insufficient staff and property. In 1956, a 30-bed non-profit regional hospital named
District Memorial Hospital was constructed in nearby
Andrews. Murphy Medical acquired District Memorial's assets in 2002 before District Memorial closed in June 2003, and was demolished in late 2008. In January 1974 the Murphy Town Council approved spending $4,000 on a study to see whether constructing a new hospital was feasible. Mountain Health Services of
Blairsville, Georgia, recommended the construction of a new $5.5 million medical center. Ground breaking for the new hospital was on May 12, 1977 and Murphy Medical Center was founded in January 1979. Providence Hospital closed soon after the ground-breaking of MMC. Providence donated $120,000 worth of equipment to the hospital. In January 1982,
Charlotte-based SunHealth took over management of the hospital. After the
FAA halted helicopter landings near the hospital due to unsafe conditions, the medical center built and opened a dedicated heliport in September 1985. In October 1985,
Atlanta-based Health Southeast took over management of the hospital from SunHealth and Jerry Hummel was appointed as administrator. From 1990 through 2017 Murphy Medical Center held an annual
5K run at the hospital campus to raise money. The race was called “Two Hours From Anywhere.” The hospital opened a cardiac rehabilitation unit and a memory care unit. The hospital opened an
urgent care center in a Murphy shopping center in 1998. The urgent care center moved to its current location in 2009 and treats approximately 12,000 walk-in patients per year. As of 2013, the
emergency department at the
Peachtree campus treated approximately 15,000 patients per year. Murphy Medical began losing money as uncompensated care grew to $13 million in 2013. Erlanger Health System acquired Murphy Medical Center in January 2018 and changed its name in January 2019. The hospital closed its labor and delivery unit in December 2019. As of 2018, the hospital had approximately 450 employees. In 2023, an Erlanger Life Force helicopter ambulance transporting a patient to Asheville's
Mission Hospital crashed near Franklin 15 minutes after leaving Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital. All four aboard survived. The helicopter was based at the
Western Carolina Regional Airport in Andrews. That same year, Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital served as incident command post during the 5,000-acre Collett Ridge Fire. Since 2023, Erlanger has provided athletic trainers to
Andrews and
Murphy high schools. In late 2024, the hospital opened a nature garden for staff and patients in a trapped space between buildings. On June 30, 2025, a fatal shooting occurred at a nearby orthopedics office affiliated with the hospital. A federal inmate shot a Cherokee County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) detention officer with his own gun and injured another. The officer that was shot was taken into the main hospital where he was pronounced deceased. The inmate stole a vehicle, fled, and was arrested in
Macon County, near Franklin. He was arrested on a first-degree murder charge and was taken to the
Buncombe County Detention Center. The inmate had a virtual court appearance in
Swain County. The hospital and the nearby
Tri-County Community College were on lockdown. The inmate had previously been arrested on robbery charges and had previously escaped from CCSO's custody in 2024. In December 2025, Erlanger Western Carolina announced plans to add 20,000 square feet of patient care areas, consolidating radiology, laboratory services, urgent care, primary care, urology, orthopedic care, and general surgery into a single location on the main hospital campus. $3 million in federal funding was allocated for the project after being requested by
Chuck Edwards in the bill reopening the government following the
2025 government shutdown. ==Chief executives==