Both houses of the Kentucky legislature have now acted to financially support the University of Louisville’s plan to acquire and operate Jewish Hospital. Senate approval of a loan based bill came Tuesday with a 23 to 10 vote.
Under the measure, half of the $35 million loan would be forgiven if U of L meets certain benchmarks. Louisville Senator Julie Raque Adams said the downtown hospital is an integral part of the city’s healthcare system. “Jewish Hospital sees more than 35,000 emergency room visits per year, 20 percent of which lead to hospitalization. The Louisville medical community simply can’t handle that number of E-R visits and about one-third of Jewish Hospital admissions come from outside of Jefferson County,” explained Raque Adams.
With the current coronavirus pandemic, health officials are keeping close track of available bed space in hospitals. Raque Adams said the enactment of this legislation wouldn’t increase the number of beds, but it wouldn’t decrease that number either.?
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