Lexington will get 105 new skilled nursing beds under a contract signed Friday by University of Kentucky HealthCare and Signature HealthCARE.
The $35 million facility, approved by the UK Board of Trustees at a retreat in Ashland, will be located at Hamburg East and is in partnership with the Louisville-based company, which specializes in live-in care facilities.
UK officials said they hope to take the first patients at the new facility by early 2029.
“We were looking for a partner to build something new that the region has not seen before, and Signature HealthCARE rose to the top as a great partner for us,” Rob Edwards, vice president and chief strategy and government affairs officer for UK and UK HealthCare. “The idea of building a new skilled nursing facility that will accept all kinds of patients, but be able to treat a higher acuity patient, a little bit sicker patient than normal.”
UK broke ground on Hamburg East on Oct. 15, starting with a medical office building. It’s projected to cost $275 million and be complete by the end of 2028. The campus covers 42 acres.
Edwards said the hospital is looking at strategic partnerships to improve patient offerings and care.
“As we start to think about what happens to the patient when they leave the hospital, we've gotten more intentional about who we might partner with when we when patients are looking for that next level of care,” Edwards said.
According to a news release, the skilled nursing facility will serve patients who need higher care upon discharge from the hospital than they would receive at home. The goal is to expand access to skilled nursing services, and improve patient experience and outcomes.
Edwards said the Hamburg East location is ideal for the new facility because over time, the area should have additional nearby amenities, like a hotel or a shopping center.
UK saw “tremendous needs” for skilled nursing facilities, he said.
“One of the things we see is that we have patients who are ready to be discharged from the hospital — and anyone who's been in that condition knows that they are ready to get out and get back closer to home,” Edwards said. “We call those opportunity days because it creates the opportunity for that patient to go back home or close to home, and it also makes that bed available for the next very sick patient who's coming in.”
UK HealthCare is seeing increased demand for specialty care across the state, and skilled nursing facilities are limited, the hospital system noted in the release.
Edwards did not have a figure on how many people the skilled nursing facility would employ.
“As we continue to invest in that infrastructure, we should be able to stay with our true north, which is to ensure that no Kentuckian has to leave Kentucky for care. And that when that care is provided, that we're able to provide it close to home,” Edwards said.
