A success story in rural Kentucky

In the early 1960s, Morehead, KY, was a town without a hospital. When the people of Morehead started efforts to establish a hospital, their search for an organization to operate it led them to the Sisters of Notre Dame from the Covington, KY, Province. Although the sisters were a teaching institute, at the request of the Covington bishop, they decided to run the hospital. When the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center agreed to become involved, the die was cast. St. Claire Medical Center opened as a 41-bed facility with three medical staff members in July 1963. Since then, two major expansion programs have brought its bed complement to 170. Early on, the hospital recognized the need to serve outlying areas. In 1971 it started a home health program that today serves an eight-county area and provides more than 28,000 patient visits per year. It also began establishing clinics in outlying areas and today has three primary care and one maternity clinic. The hospital's affiliation with the University of Kentucky has been a prime factor in physician recruitment and other joint efforts. The hospital is the largest single rotation site for students and graduates from the five colleges at the University of Kentucky medical center complex. It also serves as a clinical rotation site for three other universities, two community colleges, and one vocational technical school. Over the years, the hospital has continued to gain the support of the community, less than 1 percent of whom are Catholic, and today more than 80 percent of all patients from the Morehead area who are hospitalized choose St. Claire.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)