LOUISVILLE, Ky. — UofL Hospital in downtown Louisville is about to get a major upgrade.
According to a release, a new seven-story tower will be the "anchor" of a $144 million expansion through UofL Health. The expansion project will increase the hospital's operating capacity by creating space for more beds and clinical space.
The upgrades will also allow the rest of the hospital to move to all private beds.
When the project is complete, UofL Health will have more than 360 beds, 20 operating rooms and a new 24-bed observation unit. In addition, the lobby, waiting area, gift shop and coffee shop will be updated as well.
Leaders from UofL Health joined Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Congressman John Yarmuth and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer to make the formal announcement Thursday.
"Every day this past year, 40 patients a day didn't get a room in our hospitals... because we did not have the ability to take care of that. We're going to solve this with this project," said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO.
Hospital officials said a groundbreaking is expected later in April. The tower will open in phases, with the first phase scheduled to be ready for patients in early 2024.
The current UofL Hospital facility, a medical teaching and research hospital in downtown Louisville, was built in 1979. It is the only Level I Trauma Center in Kentuckiana with the only burn unit in the region, according to UofL Health.
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