‘Behind the Blue’: UK’s bold vision for the Advancing Kentucky Together Network
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 2, 2025) – Health isn’t just about treating illness — it’s about access. It’s about education. It’s about the quality of life in every community across Kentucky.
In October 2024, the University of Kentucky’s Board of Trustees made a bold statement: that UK should become the university that does more than any other in the country to improve the health of the state it serves.
The creation of a new initiative, the Advancing Kentucky Together Network, is the next step in UK’s long-standing work to tackle health disparities, boost regional economies, and build a stronger, more resilient workforce — all through deep and sustained community partnerships.
The network “builds upon years of work we’ve done on the health care side,” said Rob Edwards, vice president and chief strategy & growth officer for UK HealthCare, “building networks of health care providers and working together to improve clinical care for patients and to provide that care close to the patient’s home.”
The vision is rooted in Kentucky’s land-grant mission and UK’s history of stepping into real-world challenges with statewide impact.
For Edwards, the concept is straightforward.
“I would say we’re taking a lot of long-time relationships that are built on trust,” he said. “And so we’ve been able to find a model that works from both an expense standpoint and a health outcomes standpoint.”
On this episode of “Behind the Blue,” Edwards discusses the decades of partnership-building that laid the groundwork for this network, how strategic collaborations can meet local and statewide needs, and why UK is uniquely positioned to lead this effort.
“Behind the Blue” is available via a variety of podcast providers, including iTunes and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.
“Behind the Blue” is a joint production of the University of Kentucky and UK HealthCare. Transcripts for this or other episodes of “Behind the Blue” can be downloaded from the show’s blog page.
Discover how the University of Kentucky is advancing our Commonwealth.
UK HealthCare is the hospitals and clinics of the University of Kentucky. But it is so much more. It is more than 10,000 dedicated health care professionals committed to providing advanced subspecialty care for the most critically injured and ill patients from the Commonwealth and beyond. It also is the home of the state’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that cares for the tiniest and sickest newborns, the region’s only Level 1 trauma center and Kentucky’s top hospital ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
As an academic research institution, we are continuously pursuing the next generation of cures, treatments, protocols and policies. Our discoveries have the potential to change what’s medically possible within our lifetimes. Our educators and thought leaders are transforming the health care landscape as our six health professions colleges teach the next generation of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals, spreading the highest standards of care. UK HealthCare is the power of advanced medicine committed to creating a healthier Kentucky, now and for generations to come.