UK HealthCare Enters Agreement to Purchase Property in Hamburg

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 17, 2022) — Reflecting the growing health care needs and population trends of the community, this morning UK HealthCare announced plans to enter a purchase agreement to initially acquire about 27 acres of property for approximately $20.3 million in the Hamburg development along I-75. The purchase agreement includes a right of first refusal on additional acres of land and is subject to University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approval this afternoon.

The property is anticipated to be a future home for a medical campus that could include a regional hospital facility, a medical office building and/or other clinical facilities.

The Hamburg area of Lexington-Fayette County is a fast-growing area of the Bluegrass region. As part of its 2025 strategic plan, UK HealthCare is focusing on not only providing more health care access to Kentuckians, but ensuring that this access is more conveniently located for patients.

“In 1962, UK’s Albert B. Chandler Medical Center first opened its doors, beginning a new era of health care in Kentucky,” said Mark F. Newman, UK executive vice president for health affairs. “As we celebrate our 60th anniversary by honoring those who came before us, we are also looking to the future. We recognize the need to make health care more geographically accessible for our patients in Lexington as well as across Central and Eastern Kentucky. Not only will this location be more convenient for many of our patients, it will support our continued growth in outpatient services and create more capacity for essential clinical programs.”

The proposed community medical campus will provide acute care services to complement UK HealthCare’s main medical center facilities, UK Chandler Hospital and UK Kentucky Clinic.

UK HealthCare currently offers outpatient services at several other medical facilities across Lexington, including Kentucky Children’s Hospital’s pediatric clinics, the Good Samaritan Professional Arts Center, UK HealthCare-Turfland, the Lexington Surgery Center, Kentucky Clinic South, Polk-Dalton Clinic, the UK HealthCare offices at Fountain Court, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital.

Last December, UK HealthCare also announced plans for a new cancer center/ambulatory facility across South Limestone from UK Chandler Hospital — the future home for the UK Markey Cancer Center.

“Our mission is to advance Kentucky in everything that we do. A healthier state, one where more people have greater access to the quality of care we provide, is a critical part of that mission,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “This purchase and potential development is another critical step to ensure we have the capacity to treat more patients in our community and region as we continue to focus on transforming Kentucky into a state that is healthier, wealthier and wiser.”

UK will complete property due diligence and planning activities in accordance with the development agreement. Following a successful due diligence period and with additional approval from the UK Board of Trustees and Kentucky’s Secretary of Finance and Administration, UK will complete purchase of the property.

Newman said at the time of the final purchase, trustees will be briefed on more details of plans for the medical campus when UK HealthCare presents a master facility plan, which will focus on creating new access sites across the Bluegrass and in underserved areas of Fayette County. 

“We want to treat patients where they are — as close to home as possible with the best of care as possible,” Newman said. “That’s what people in the community and region expect from UK HealthCare, whether at our centrally located hospitals and clinics or in the clinics and hospitals we partner with throughout Fayette County and the Commonwealth. That’s the goal of this initiative as well — to create greater access, closer to home, for more people in the area to the best possible primary and specialty care.”