A healthcare system in Ky. goes statewide

FRANKFORT, Ky., June 17 (UPI) -- Officials of three Kentucky healthcare organizations say their boards approved plans to form a healthcare delivery system that will be accessible statewide.

Included in the new system are: the University of Louisville Hospital, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare in Louisville and Saint Joseph Health System based in Lexington.

Bob Hewett, who is slated to be the first chairman of the system's board of trustees, says the system will combine the faith-based and academic heritages of the partners, integrating medical research, education, technology and healthcare services.

"There is so much more we can accomplish together. Most important, we will be increasing access to basic and advanced health services. That will lead to improving the health not only of individual patients, but of entire communities," Hewett says in a statement.

"At the same time, we will work to lower costs as we advocate for the poor and underserved in our communities."

The new system will bring together a medical staff of more than 3,000 physicians across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. More than half the state is designated as medically underserved and there is a growing scarcity of physicians across Kentucky, but use of telemedicine and technology, including robots, should be able to expand access to specialty care that many communities have gone without, Hewett says.