Shriners to Move Lexington Children’s Hospital
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Shriners Hospitals for Children-Lexington is moving to a new location.
Shriners Hospitals for Children and UK Healthcare signed an agreement last week that will change the current location of the children’s hospital from 1900 Richmond Road to South Limestone, across from the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital. After a campaign kickoff in Lexington on Oct. 23, the Shriners organization is on its way to raise the $8 million in capital that it needs to help build the new medical center. Proceeds from the sale of the current facility will also help with construction efforts, which are slated to begin in early 2015.
The new $47 million facility will be a state-of-the-art ambulatory care center, owned and operated by Shriners Hospitals for Children, and will be designed to better meet the orthopedic needs of children.
“The quality care children and families have experienced at our facility since 1926 will continue,” said Tony Lewgood, administrator of Shriners Hospitals for Children-Lexington, in a statement. “Relocating to the UK HealthCare campus will bring together the pediatric orthopedic expertise Shriners is known for with the top-rated specialty and subspecialty pediatric care at Kentucky Children’s Hospital — a benefit to children with complex conditions. Close proximity to a first-rate medical center will also enhance the education and research aspects of our mission.”
Shriners hopes to combine its orthopedic expertise with the care that can be provided at Kentucky Children’s hospital. Pediatric surgeons on the staff at the Lexington Shriners Hospital are also on staff at Kentucky Children’s, and the two organizations want children to be cared for by the same physicians. The University of Kentucky will lease the top two floors of the five-story building for ophthalmology services as well.
“The University of Kentucky and the Lexington Shriners Hospital have long traditions of excellence and commitment when it comes to providing the best in specialty and subspecialty pediatric care,” said Dr. Michael Karpf, executive vice president for health affairs at UK, in a statement. “It only makes sense in this environment, where health reform and the economy are pushing us to maximize efficiency and quality, that we partner with Shriners Hospitals for Children to enhance the care we provide.”
The Shriners organization said in a statement that achievements and advances in orthopedic care for children have changed since the current Lexington hospital was built in 1988. Fewer children require inpatient care while the number of children receiving outpatient care has increased significantly. This year, 78 percent of the hospital’s surgical cases have been performed without the child requiring an overnight stay.
Additionally, the pediatric orthopedic physicians who use the current Shriners facility treat an increasing number of children. Since 1988, the number of children cared for has more than doubled. In 2014, more than 10,800 children from Kentucky and the surrounding states will come to the Lexington Shriners Hospital to see their physician specialist and receive related services. The new facility will expand capacity to more than 13,000 children.