More beds, more doctors, more med students: UK HealthCare’s vision for the future
When plotting the future of the sprawling University of Kentucky HealthCare enterprise, leaders are asking themselves two important questions:
“How do we improve the health outcomes of Kentucky, and how do we ensure that every Kentuckian, no matter any concern they have from a health standpoint, can remain here for their care? That’s that North Star,” said Eric Monday, co-executive vice president for health affairs.
Monday and Bob DiPaola took over as acting co-executive vice presidents for health affairs in December 2022 and were named to the permanent position in August 2023.
What they’re guiding is a $4 billion business that is growing. This year, it represents 58% of the university’s overall $6.8 billion budget.
UK HealthCare generated over $325 million dollars in net revenue for fiscal year 2023. That’s $33 million more than fiscal year 2022.
“All of that is being reinvested in Kentucky,” Monday said. “We’re reinvesting into that enterprise to provide more access, to improve the number of beds, to bring in more physicians, to have more learners.”
The Herald Leader obtained an advanced copy of the UK HealthCare 2023 annual report and discussed the spending plans and patterns with top UK officials.
The overall approach: More beds, more doctors, more clinics, more hospital space and a deeper commitment to meeting the rising medical and health needs of Kentuckians.
UK holds a unique position as an academic health system, with a focus on teaching the next generation of Kentucky healthcare workers. Last year, UK boasted 923 residents or fellows in rotation and around 800 students in the college of medicine.
“We know the state needs more healthcare workers by far,” DiPaola said.
“We are moving forward. We are working towards providing more sub-specialty care.”
A chunk of the program’s 2023 revenue was used to recruit and hire another lung transplant surgeon and for capital projects. Specifically, the $7 million cancer and advanced ambulatory center that broke ground in April.
The new building in Lexington will consolidate cancer services, which are now spread in six UK HealthCare buildings, into one central location while also expanding capacity.
It is across from UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital on South Limestone. The 550,000-square-foot facility will become the new home to the UK Markey Cancer Center, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as a Comprehensive Spine Center, ambulatory surgery space and other outpatient services.
It is expected to open in 2027.
Expanding healthcare access
UK’s hospital system currently has 1,086 licensed beds and will add 260 more in the next 10 years. UK HealthCare is also approved to build another tower of Chandler Hospital, which will give the hospital capacity to accept more transfer patients.
“If we do 45,000 discharges this year, tens of thousands of those discharges are transfers that are coming to us from other hospitals in Kentucky,” Monday said.
In 2022, the health system denied 6,000 transfer requests. Monday said they are projected to only turn away about 4,000 for fiscal year 2024.
“We have been increasing our ability to say yes, and not have to turn anyone away,” DiPaola said.
Looking to advance sub-specialty care, UK will add four outpatient sites across the state, the first of which opened in Lexington May 20. A site will open later this year in Frankfort.
Two more sites are to open in 2025, one in Fayette County and another in Richmond.
Expanding the capacity of the institution is at the forefront of the strategic plan, DiPaola said, but adding beds is not the only way to increase healthcare access.
“We’re full all the time. One way that we deal with access is more space … but another way that we can attend to that is to improve efficiencies as best possible. Meaning, appropriately, be able to get patients out of the hospital,” he said.
Last year saw a decrease in the average length of stay for UK Healthcare patients, dropping from 7.72 days in fiscal year 2022 to 7.65 days in fiscal year 2023.
DiPaola said that decrease is attributed to a concerted push for more efficiency, such as finishing discharge orders faster and looking at test results sooner.
This story was originally published May 29, 2024 at 10:56 AM.