Latest news with #UKKD
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Adkins family to host 'cure for cancer' for 29th year
MOREHEAD More than 60 teams of golfers will hit the greens this Friday to kick off Memorial Day weekend while also marking the 29th Annual Rocky and Leah Adkins Cure for Cancer golf scramble. Rocky Adkins, a lifelong eastern Kentucky figure and current senior adviser to Gov. Andy Beshear, also carries the title of "survivor," giving a personal drive for the near-30-year charity event. "I'm a 30-year cancer survivor and my wife, Leah, is a breast cancer survivor," Adkins said ahead of Friday's event. "It means a great deal to us personally." In the 29 consecutive years of hosting the benefit at Eagle Trace Golf Course, the Adkinses' personal effort combined with community involvement has allowed for nearly $4 million in total donations to UK King's Daughters Health Foundation. A portion of those proceeds allowed the hospital to implement a mobile mammogram unit, a vital tool for early detection for eastern Kentuckians that may lack accessible testing and healthcare otherwise. "Every penny (participants) contribute or donate to this cause goes directly into different causes that we support," Adkins said, including the mobile mammogram unit and expansion of UKKD's oncology center. Through the golf charity, Adkins said the oncology center has been able to expand from 7,000 square feet to nearly 20,000 square feet, providing "a better environment for patients during chemo treatments or other treatments they may be receiving." "We are so happy to be able to continue to support so many and will continue to promote and do everything we can to save lives and help people that are suffering from or yet to be diagnosed with cancer," Adkins said. "We want to be sure we have the best facilities, relaxing environment and to be able to keep the mobile mammography unit that's saving lives every day because of early detection." This year, Adkins said team slots were completely sold out with 34 teams scheduled for Friday morning and 30 to follow in the afternoon. "We are so honored that so many people are able to come out and participate," Adkins said. "All of us know an individual who has either suffered from cancer, whether it be a close friend or family member, who have lost their life to cancer. "So we're going to continue our battle for a cure to cancer and Leah and I, as a family, will continue to do what we can to provide resources to help every family member or cancer patient." Adkins said the event always falls on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend intentionally. "We're there to celebrate life but also there to honor and remember," Adkins said. (606) 326-2652 | mjepling@
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Built for us, by us': UKKD unveils main entrance
ASHLAND Patients and visitors of UK King's Daughters will receive a refreshed welcoming come Monday morning after the hospital's main campus unveiled its new main entrance on Thursday. The celebration of the hospital's redesigned entry point is just one piece of the campus' years-long expansion project to be completed, as the hospital is now gearing up to phase in a brand new emergency department. Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday to mark the opening of the main entrance, Northeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce hosted a Business After Hours event which included tours of the soon-to-open emergency department. The opening of the new ED is planned for June 18, where emergency healthcare will be phased into the new 200,000-square-foot emergency department wing. The overall project, which began 2 1/2 years ago, totaled a $160 million of UK King's Daughters investment into the functional — but aging — campus. Tour guide Jody Archer, UKKD's Business Development Manager, said the project was a long time coming. 'We've needed this since I've been here,' said Archer, who has been employed at the hospital for 20 years. The new emergency department features 60-plus private rooms, new triage spaces, two trauma bays, three isolation rooms and an eight-bed behavioral health unit. Throughout the tour, privacy and safety appear to be key components in the expansion's design while still offering quick access to vital services like radiological and lab testing. With separate entrances for ambulances, inmates and behavioral health patients, the new emergency department aims to provide segregated spaces for vulnerable individuals — whereas in the older emergency department, those patients may be forced to wait for testing or an available bed in the waiting room. Although Archer said UKKD's isn't a trauma center, two new trauma bays allow the sickest patients to receive immediate care, as some patients may need to be stabilized before being transported to nearby trauma centers. Archer said the use of three isolation rooms is a game-changer in the event another COVID-19 arises, but will also come in handy as patient overflow spaces if the need arises. The new emergency department also features a room designated specifically for decontamination and rooms that can accommodate patients weighing up to 1,200 pounds. The eight rooms in the behavioral health unit are also designed for patient safety, with specialized features to keep staff, the general public and patients segregated from violent patients or safe from themselves in the event they wish to self harm. Archer said the emergency department will have badge-only access points, metal detectors and an officer on site 24/7. 'I hope with the expansion we really continue the mission,' Katie Arnett, Vice President of Patient Experience, said. 'Regardless of your circumstance, we are here. Any day, Any hour. 'That's the 1,000-foot view but centered around why we're all here,' Arnett said, 'from housekeeping to administration.' Arnett, an employee for 17 years and daughter of a 40-year nurse, said the expansion is personal for all staff, as they, too, are consumers and patients of the hospital. 'It's a big but special place to work,' Arnett said, which was kept in mind during the design process that included several voices of those 'on the ground' every day. 'It really was built for us, by us,' Arnett said. As far as the new, centralized main entrance, previously Patient Tower B, UKKD CEO Sara Marks said she's eager to see patient reactions to the easier to access corridors commonly described as 'a maze.' Marks said despite the limited space in the current emergency department and influx of patients during COVID-19 and the closure of Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in 2020, 'our team did a phenomenal job.' 'But now they get to have this space,' Marks said, describing the emergency department expansion as the highlight of the past 2 1/2 years.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Commissioners get update on UKKD, thankful for expansion
ASHLAND Ashland city commissioners received a project summary from UK-King's Daughters CEO Sara Marks during Tuesday evening's meeting, including updates on expansions soon to open by the city's largest employer. According to Marks, the construction of a new 200,000-square-foot emergency department at the hospital's main campus will be ready to receive patients in June, wrapping up the end of the $160 million and 2 1/2-year rehaul. A new and centralized main entrance will be open to patients and visitors as early as May 12. In 2024, Marks said the Ashland campus recorded more than 20,000 hospital admissions, nearly 200,000 urgent care visits and completed about 2.5 million lab procedures, a workload and patient flow that required a major expansion. Marks said UKKDMC employs about 5,500 people — 4,000 of whom work inside the main Ashland campus. 'We are proud of what you all do,' Mayor Chuck Charles said of Marks's and UKKDMC's impact on the city, calling their development, social programs and community outreach programs the 'backbone' in providing high-level care and quality employment to locals. Commissioner DJ Rymer said UKKD makes up about 40% of the city's revenue budget as the No. 1 regional employer and asked if anything could be done from city government to assist the medical facility in future expansions. Marks said as far as employee retention, city officials should continue pursuing solutions to housing issues that could add more rentals and properties to own. After inquiry from commissioner Tim Renfroe, referencing the emergency department's addition of four new trauma bays, Marks said the hospital receiving a trauma center designation 'isn't out of the realm of possibility,' but isn't something to anticipate in the immediate future. In other happenings: • Commissioners approved the purchase of 25 fire hydrants for the Department of Utility Operations, Division of Water Distribution. Rymer said the move was 'fantastic,' to hopefully combat issues of hydrants in need of replacement in the Catlettsburg area, as the city is responsible for water distribution and hydrant supply and repairing or replacing them throughout the neighboring town. Mark Hall, Director of Utilities, said adding more hydrants throughout the city and in Catlettsburg have been one of the recent focuses, with the goal to purchase a total of 100 25-count orders in the future. • The annual Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for Saturday, April 19, from 11 to noon at Ashland Central Park.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
In Our View: Good for Greenup
UK-KDMC announced an important expansion in Greenup County. In addition to upgrading its office complex in Bellefonte, UKKD will also build an urgent care center in Greenup County. Many readers are aware that UK King's Daughters relocated some of its offices to the former Ashland Oil building. If not for King's Daughters, there's a decent chance both of those buildings would be empty. Bellefonte Hospital utilized one of the buildings for some of its services. After Bellefonte exited our area, that resulted in concern about occupancy of those buildings. UKKD has been hitting on all cylinders since the hospital merged with the University of Kentucky. The new multimillion-dollar emergency department on the main campus will be open sometime this year. Of course, none of us want to visit an emergency room. The new state of the emergency room is desperately needed due to increased admissions and space limitations in the existing emergency department. UKKD used careful planning in the construction of the new emergency department. The city worked well with hospital officials for necessary street closures. The Ashland campus has grown over the last few decades, offering many more services than in the past. Fortunately, they absorbed most of the business from the former Bellefonte Hospital. Expanding health care in Greenup County is an important component for any area wishing to grow. Too many Greenup Countians have died in the back of ambulances trying to get to the emergency room. Having access to health care is essential for the well-being of any residence. Some Greenup Countians use Portsmouth for their medical needs. KDMC has expanded into the Portsmouth area with a newer facility in the west end of Portsmouth. For too long, those living in rural parts of Kentucky didn't have access to health care. It's still a problem in some parts of the Commonwealth. Greenup County deserves this. UKKD is delivering health care to an area in need.
