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Thursday, Jun. 18, 2009

Central Baptist Hospital breaks ground in Richmond

Central Baptist Hospital broke ground on a two-story, 20,000-square-foot facility in Richmond on Wednesday, the next move in what it calls an initiative to provide more accessible health care in Central Kentucky.

The Central Baptist Medical Plaza at Heritage Place will offer primary-care physicians, outpatient diagnostic services and clinic space for a variety of specialties. The location off Barnes Mill Road will open in January or February of next year, said Central Baptist spokeswoman Ruth Ann Childers.

"Now we're reaching out to bring our services closer to the people who have been so loyal to us over the years," Central Baptist Hospital's president and CEO, William G. Sisson, said in a release.

The construction of the Richmond facility represents another step in Central Baptist's efforts to make its services more convenient for its patients.

Other Central Baptist-run outpatient diagnostic centers are located in Hamburg Place, Palomar Center and Leestown Road in Lexington and at Brannon Crossing in Nicholasville.

The hospital also recently broke ground on a second facility at Brannon Crossing to house Baptist Urgent Care.

It will offer treatment of minor illnesses and injuries without an appointment and on nights and weekends, according to a news release.

The new Brannon Crossing facility will also offer magnetic resonance imaging and expanded mammography services and will lease space to physicians.

Central Baptist has always served a significant number of residents from Lexington's surrounding counties, Childers said. Last year, it treated 8,700 patients from Madison County.

She cited "the connectivity of the electronic medical record" as a significant feature of the future Richmond location.

"Say, if someone from Madison County goes to get a CAT scan in Heritage Plaza, and a physician refers them to a specialist on the campus in Lexington," Childers said. "When they come ... to our Lexington location, we have access to their medical records."

Childers said the medical plaza in Richmond will create 40 to 50 professional positions.