By Stephanie Ockerman - Managing Editor
One day after what would have been Dr. Claire Louise Caudill’s 96th birthday, her namesake St. Claire Regional, Morehead State and the University of Kentucky broke ground for a new $30 million Center for Health, Education and Research.
The longtime physician and humanitarian would have been proud.
Wednesday’s ceremony celebrated the largest construction project in the history of St. Claire Regional and MSU.
“We are very pleased to have this opportunity to work together to provide improved health care services to the people of this region,” said Mark J. Neff, president/CEO of St. Claire Regional.
“This is the first step toward a strong hub for regional health care and health education,” said MSU President Wayne D. Andrews. “We’ve only just begun.”
Neff and Andrews were joined at the ceremony by Dr. Jay Perman, dean of the UK College of Medicine, and state legislators.
The 90,237-square-foot facility will house SCR’s Family Medicine Clinic (including dental and radiology services), St. Claire TeleCare, Northeast KY Area Health Education Center, St. Claire Family Medicine Residency and educational/meeting space.
It also will include MSU’s Department of Imaging Services and Department of Nursing and UK's physician assistant and family nurse practitioner programs.
The new facility, located between Second and Sun Streets, is scheduled for completion in April 2010.
The four legislators attending at the groundbreaking – Rep. Rocky Adkins, Sen. Charlie Borders, Sen. Walter Blevins and Rep. John Will Stacy – all spoke on the importance of collaboration between MSU, SCR and UK and expressed pride in their respective roles in bringing the project to reality.
UK announced last June that the three agencies would be partners with its College of Medicine in the Rural Physician Leadership Track, a plan to increase the number of physicians opting to practice in East Kentucky.
The family medicine clinic will serve as the primary training site for the SCR/UK family practice residency program and will include examination rooms, a dental suite, as well as a clinical laboratory and basic radiology services.
