Source: Randy Patrick, The KY Standard
HMH Family Medical Center is experiencing growing pains, and the prescribed treatment is for 70,000 square feet of metal, mortar and bricks.
Employees of Hardin Memorial Health and its Bardstown clinic and local officials were among the more than 100 guests who gathered at a construction site on East John Rowan Boulevard Thursday afternoon for a groundbreaking ceremony for the new clinic that will replace the one at 201 S. First St.
“Anyone who’s been to our office can attest to the fact that we are a tightly packed, busy little beehive, and we look forward to this new building and … the partnership and what HMH can bring to the people of Nelson County and all of the patients of our region,” said Dr. Matt Stiles, one of the local physicians.
What is now Bardstown Family Medical Center was started in 1956 by Dr. Charles Spalding, who was joined by his physician son, Dr. Chip Spalding, and his brother, Dr. Harry Spalding, former mayor of the city.
“It’s their legacy to which we aspire,” Stiles said.
About 12 years ago, he said, Family Medical and Physicians for Children partnered with HMH to be able to provide radiology, laboratory services and other amenities.
“Our relationship with HMH was so positive that we invited them to take the reins and guide us into the future, and it has proven to be a great decision … . All that has gone before us comes to us now in this facility which will provide us with the opportunity to provide care for the generations of citizens residing now in Nelson County and the region — friends and neighbors,” Stiles said, echoing a phrase often used by Dr. William Hagan, a family medicine practitioner.
The new 70,000-square-foot facility, which is scheduled to be completed and operating by September of next year, will replace 12,600 square feet of office space on South Fifth and 2,500 on Morton Avenue downtown.
Dennis Johnson, chief executive officer of Hardin Memorial Health, told the audience the Bardstown Family Medical Center had 42,155 patient visits last year, a 29 percent increase in two years.
“What an incredible growth rate,” he said. “We have also seen double-digit growth in all of our ancillary services over the last three-plus years … and we are so blessed to be welcomed to this community,” he said.
He mentioned that HMH employs more than 220 Nelson County residents.
Hardin Memorial Health, based in Elizabethtown, partnered with Medcraft, a developer that specializes in building medical facilities, on the $20 million project.
Medcraft will own the facility and lease it to HMH.
Robins & Morton of Brentwood, Tenn., is the general contractor.
The building will house laboratory, diagnostic imaging, cardiovascular, rehabilitation and disease management services and provide space for specialists in urology, general surgery, orthopedics, vascular surgery, pulmonology, cardiology and ear, nose and throat, as well as general practitioners.
Tom Carrico, vice president of operations, who emceed the ceremony, said the company will probably keep the old buildings downtown and use them for something, possibly mental health services.
He pointed out that the new seven-acre site, located between Walmart and Corvin’s Flooring and Furniture, will have plenty of room for future growth. The new facility is expected to serve patients from Washington, Bullitt, Marion and LaRue counties as well as Nelson.
Hardin Memorial Health is owned by the Hardin County Fiscal Court and managed by Kentucky’s Baptist Health, based in Louisville. It has more than 2,100 physicians and other medical professionals, the 300-bed Hardin Memorial Hospital and serves more than 400,000 patients in a 10-county region.
