The University of Kentucky HealthCare will halt operations at Good Samaritan Hospital in 2029 and transfer services to Albert B. Chandler Hospital, which will be expanded in the coming years, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The closure will not result in any job losses, with employees given the opportunity to move to other facilities within UK HealthCare, according to the report. The health system will continue to invest in and operate Good Samaritan until that time.
Good Samaritan has more than 600 clinical and ancillary staff, over 600 employed physicians and 180 licensed hospital beds, according to its website. It also houses Kentucky's second-largest orthopedic and joint replacement program.
"The decommissioning of Good Samaritan and moving those beds into an expansion of UK Chandler Hospital is part of the overall plan to improve facilities that provide maximum flexibility to create capacity and ensure quality care," a spokesperson for the health system told the Leader.
UK HealthCare is planning a significant expansion that could cost up to $2.4 billion. The project includes the addition of 300 beds at Chandler Hospital — with a new hospital tower and four outpatient locations in the area — and expanding several services at Chandler Hospital and Kentucky Children's Hospital.
The system also plans to partner with the academic side of the university, which is building a health education facility to bring together the colleges of nursing, medicine, health sciences and public health.
UK HealthCare estimates that it will need to hire 4,800 employees to staff the new and expanded facilities.