August 24, 2010 —     Two governors, another university president and a statewide higher education official have been added to the list of dignitaries coming to Morehead Friday for the official opening of the $30 million Center for Health, Education and Research (CHER).

    The 1 p.m. event is open to the public. Refreshment and tours of the facility will follow.

    Gov. Steve Beshear and University of Kentucky President Lee Todd also will be on the program for the ribbon cutting ceremony on the first floor of the new, four-story CHER facility on the campus of St. Claire Regional Medical Center. 

    Also attending will be former Gov. Paul Patton, chair of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), and Dr. Robert King, CPE president. They will be guests at an earlier meeting of the Morehead State University Board of Regents.

    “This will an historic day for healthcare and public higher education in East Kentucky,” said MSU President Wayne D. Andrews. “Opening such a facility as a partnership of a public regional university, a land grant university and a public, non-profit hospital corporation is a first for Kentucky and perhaps the nation.”

    CHER is a partnership of St. Claire Regional, MSU and UK.

    Announced earlier as speakers for the dedication were Andrews, SCR President Mark J. Neff and State Reps. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, and John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty.

    UK’s Todd issued the following statement about CHER:

    “We are thrilled to work alongside our friends at St. Claire Regional Medical Center and Morehead State University to add value to rural health care throughout Eastern Kentucky. “This is a world-class facility and UK is certainly excited to strengthen our connections in this region.”

    SCR’s Neff said of the facility:

    “We now have the means for students and residents to train side-by-side and care for patients in a modern primary care facility and where research on the causes of chronic diseases in East Kentucky can be evaluated and innovative solutions proposed.”

    The 90,000-square-foot building was constructed on land provided by St. Claire Regional with funding from the state and federal governments.

    “Our institutions owe a huge debt of gratitude to our state and federal legislators whose efforts brought us the planning monies and later the construction and equipment funds,” said Andrews, Neff and Todd.

    A variety of programs are housed in the new Center, including MSU’s bachelor’s and associate degrees in nursing, associate degree in radiologic sciences, and bachelor’s degrees in computed tomography/magnetic resonance and diagnostic medical sonography.

    The facility also hosts St. Claire Regional’s family medicine clinic, family medicine residency, certified registered nurse anesthetist program and the Northeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center (AHEC).

    The University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine operates its Rural Physician Leadership Program, the third and fourth year of medical school, as well as the Center for Excellence in Rural Health, the Office of Research and Engagement for Advancing Community Health (REACH) and the Kentucky Homeplace Program.

    CHER also houses the master’s degree in physician assistant studies of UK’s College of Health Sciences. According to Andrews, Neff and Todd, a number of other program opportunities are being discussed with UK’s Colleges of Dentistry, Pharmacy and Public Health.

    In terms of its impact on the region, the opening of CHER is expected to result in the creation of a number of new, high paying jobs as educational programs and clinical programs are established and expanded.

    The facility is projected to markedly improve the supply of urgently-needed healthcare professionals by allowing local students to train and remain near their hometowns to practice.

    The significantly-expanded SCR Family Medicine Clinic is  improving citizen access to primary care service. The new facility will serve as an important recruitment tool for Morehead State University and St. Claire Regional.

    CHER has allowed the UK College of Medicine to develop its first regional site in Kentucky, enhancing the rural health research capacity in the region and providing medical students with the knowledge and experience necessary to work with civic and community leaders to improve the general health of their communities.

    These medical students, receiving rural clinical practice from the St. Claire Regional Medical Center and additional curricular content in business, information technology and health policy for a required Certificate in Health Systems Leadership from MSU's College of Business and Public Affairs, will gain the knowledge and training regarding community health to help solve the acute shortage of physicians in the rural areas of the Commonwealth.