By Alan Lytle
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The man overseeing the construction of UK's new Albert B. Chandler Hospital says this Sunday's official dedication is just one of many planned milestones for the facility. Vice President for Health Affairs Michael Karpf, says he can't wait for Sunday's festivities.
"Yeah, ribbon cutting is on Sunday, the first scientific symposium is on the seventeenth, the public spaces open up on the nineteenth, 128 patients get moved into this wonderful facility on May Twenty-Second, and then we've just got to keep raising more money and finishing out more floors."
The original medical center started receiving patients fifty years ago. Karpf describes the new hospital as state of the art and more adaptable to the needs of patients and their families.
"It was state of the art then but it was built for how healthcare was being delivered then without much anticipation of change. This hospital is being built so that it is state of the art now, but it also has tremendous flexibility so over time, it can be changed. Because we know healthcare is going to change, we just don't know how it is going to change."
Upwards of 1,000 UK employees toured the facility on Friday.