Local and state officials, physicians and organizational leaders with Owensboro Health gathered Tuesday morning for the groundbreaking of the health care system’s new Ohio County Healthplex in Hartford.
The 11,818-square-foot facility, which will be located at 503 Kentucky 69 North, will bring primary and specialty care, imaging and radiology, and laboratory services together at one campus in an effort to improve access to services for residents in the county and surrounding communities, support preventive health and wellness, and create a more connected patient experience.
“… When we started thinking about our 18 counties that we serve — about 80,000 lives throughout western Kentucky — is (that) access is really important and how we bring access locally,” said Mark Marsh, OH’s president and chief executive officer. “If we can provide access to high-quality care (and) patient-friendly care close to home, that’s really important.”
Marsh said planning for the new facility has been in the works for more than two years, though discussions about the need for expanded health care in the rural county predate his arrival at OH in June 2021.
“This is a culmination of many discussions over the years,” he said. “I’d say in the last two and a half years … as we saw the amount of patients who were traveling for follow-up and other types of services that maybe can’t be rendered here, (we wondered): ‘What (do) we do? How do we do that?’ ”
OH will work on the project alongside partners Realty Trust Group, Bryant Engineering Inc., Hafer and Garmong Construction.
With the completion of the facility, OH will have five Healthplex locations, joining those already operating in Owensboro, Henderson, Madisonville and Powderly.
Approximately 6,000 square feet will be constructed for the planned services, while the remainder will be used as shell space “as we look at other ways to bring more resources here” and to be “additive,” Marsh said.
“It’s not to be destructive,” Marsh added. “We all want to have job creation. We all want to have access. … I get a chance to work with the health systems all throughout the state (and) what we’ve seen with the changes (in healthcare) going on is we’ve all got to come together — come together for the common good, and that’s the patient.”
Hartford Mayor Beau Wright, who will begin his second term in January, said bringing a new health care center to the city and county “means everything to us.”
“Healthcare is very important to our citizens and our residents in Ohio County,” Wright said. “… I think this has been an ongoing thing that we’ve needed to be proactive on, and make sure that we’re doing the right thing for our citizens.”
Dr. Millicent Babbs and Dr. Mhroos Peters, physicians with the Owensboro Health Primary Care clinic in Beaver Dam, said the new Healthplex will be important to their medical specialty and the patients they see regularly.
“Primary care is a central hub of wellness through preventive care and the management of chronic conditions. It really plays an essential role in maintaining the health and well-being of the community through preventive screenings and routine visits,” Babbs said. “Primary care also provides important access to visits for acute conditions, acute illnesses and new concerns before they become more serious and provides a first point of contact for referral and evaluation by necessary specialists.
“When care is accessible and convenient, it is easier for people to remain healthy and seek help for acute needs,” Babbs continued. “This new Healthplex will make this possible by bringing together primary care, outpatient lab and imaging and other specialties in a convenient, modern and updated location in an environment that’s designed specifically around the needs of the patients and the families that we serve.”
Peters added the new facility will “make the patient experience a lot more meaningful.”
“It will lead us to focus, first and foremost, on high-quality care,” he said. “At the end of the day, you want connected care, you want coordinated care but you want that care to be high-quality care, meaning the patient is satisfied.
“That’s what we are here for,” Peters said.
When the Healthplex opens, Peters said, the Beaver Dam clinic will close and move into the new facility. He sees the shell space as an opportunity for growth.
“We want to have more specialities in Ohio County … so we have a better, bigger, more prominent footprint in this area,” Peters said.
Construction is expected to begin Wednesday morning, with the facility slated to open next November.
By Freddie Bourne Messenger-Inquirer