Gov. Beshear Unveils Plans, Drawings of New Eastern State Hospital

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 29, 2009) – Governor Steve Beshear today unveiled plans and artist renderings of a new Eastern State Hospital facility, to be built on a site at the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Coldstream Research Campus in Lexington. Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in July 2010.

The 230-bed, approximately 300,000 square foot replacement facility will provide a modern setting for inpatient psychiatric treatment, along with specialized services for individuals with acquired brain injuries, individuals with psychiatric disabilities requiring nursing facility level of care and forensic mental health services.

In addition to the inpatient hospital, the new Eastern State Hospital campus will include three 11,000 square foot personal care homes, each with 16 beds, that will offer a less restrictive level of care that promotes patients’ return to a community setting. These personal care homes will provide residential psychiatric services and serve as a step-down from the acute care setting.

“Unveiling the plans and drawings for this new facility puts us yet another step closer to the day in which we open the doors of the new Eastern State Hospital, transforming how Kentucky cares for individuals with mental health needs,” said Gov. Beshear.          

The $129 million facility will replace the 185-year-old Eastern State Hospital, the second oldest psychiatric hospital in the country. The project involves a unique agreement between UK, Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC), the state and the city of Lexington in which Eastern State will move from its campus on Newtown Pike to the Coldstream Research Campus location; BCTC will move from UK’s Lexington campus to the current Eastern State location; and UK will take over BCTC’s location on Cooper Drive, also providing UK with additional parking.

“This new hospital, and the move of Bluegrass Community and Technical College to the former Eastern State site, represents a huge leap ahead for Lexington and for the Commonwealth,” Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry said. “The new hospital underscores Lexington’s lead role in providing advanced health care throughout Kentucky and across the nation. Construction projects are ongoing or planned in the near future at every major hospital in town. Lexington is also a national leader in education, and this new campus will complete our higher education triangle downtown, giving BCTC the room it needs to grow so that it can provide our region and the country with the highly trained work force necessary to compete in a global economy.”

“This is an exciting moment for the Commonwealth,” said UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. “Not only will this collaborative effort provide Eastern State Hospital with a modern, world-class facility that it needs, but it will also provide an exciting new tenant to UK’s ever-growing Coldstream Research Campus.”

The design will be finalized over the next several months, with the bidding process for the construction tentatively scheduled for approximately June 2010. Substantial completion of the facility is anticipated in 2012.

“We are particularly excited about the expansion of services the new facility will allow,” said Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Janie Miller. “For example, the addition of neuro-behavioral beds and geriatric-nursing facility beds will create the opportunity for individuals with acquired brain injuries and elderly patients with severe mental illness to receive needed inpatient psychiatric treatment closer to their family and natural support setting.”

Eastern State Hospital serves an average of 2,000 patients per year from 80 Kentucky counties. The primary counties served include Boyle, Madison, Franklin, Kenton and Fayette, ranging from 65 to 279 patients annually.

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