UK HealthCare plans to enter partnership with Ashland-based hospital system
The University of Kentucky’s hospital system plans to enter into a partnership with King’s Daughters Health System in Ashland to form a new, private healthcare organization called Royal Blue Health, university officials said Friday.
The partnership could mean over $500 million in annual revenues and could affect over 3,500 King’s Daughters employees, 150 physicians and another 150 nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants, Dr. Mark Newman, UK’s executive vice president of health affairs, told some members of the university’s board of trustees in a special meeting Friday morning.
“For UK healthcare, this is our most significant hospital partnership since the acquisition of Good Samaritan Hospital in 2007,” Newman said in a press conference announcing the partnership. “Our partnership with King’s Daughters Health System will create new opportunity to serve patients from the greater Ashland tri-state community that reaches across northeastern Kentucky, southern Ohio and West Virginia.”
After being briefed on the partnership, members of the UK Board of Trustees’ executive committee approved a measure that recommended that Beyond Blue, a corporation affiliated with the university, enter into a partnership with King’s Daughters to form Royal Blue Health. King’s Daughters’ Board of Directors also endorsed the partnership in their own special meeting on Friday.
The final operational details are expected to be released in early April, a release from the university and King’s Daughters stated.
Under the partnership, Beyond Blue will be responsible to assist in the management of King’s Daughters current facilities in Ashland and Portsmouth, Ohio, said Bill Thro, UK’s general counsel.
The partnership has been 10 months in the making. According to Newman, Kristie Whitlatch, King’s Daughters CEO, wanted a proposal that would ensure continuing access to healthcare in the region after a competing hospital in the area — Our Lady of Bellefonte — permanently closed.
In a $3 million deal, King’s Daughters purchased a large building in Greenup County that previously belonged to Our Lady of Bellefonte, WSAZ reported earlier this week.
On Friday, Whitlatch said the partnership with UK will “strengthen King’s Daughters.”
“It will allow us to thrive and allow us to serve our region even better than we do today,” Whitlatch said. “We’re very committed to quality. And UK health care is a great quality partner for us.”
“While King’s Daughters has done a great job capturing a large, primary care base in the greater Ashland area,” Newman said, “we see a tremendous opportunity in Ohio and West Virginia to continue to advance and provide care to people who need it. From the standpoint of our missions and education and research, we also see opportunities for growth.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 9:18 AM.