UofL Health South Hospital saves thousands of lives in first year, plans for expansion

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — UofL Health South Hospital has been taking patients in Bullitt County for a year. It's already made an impact on thousands of lives. So much so, plans for expansion are already in the works."

So far, in its first year, the Shepherdsville hospital has seen 30,000 emergency room visits.

"It has been a wild ride," Dorie Shelburne, CEO of UofL Health South Hospital, said.

As soon as the doors opened at UofL South Hospital, lives were saved.

"We have seen exponential growth since day one," Shelburne said.

The hospital is filling a gap.

Before the hospital opened, Bullitt County was the largest county in Kentucky without an inpatient hospital. For patient Judy Kemper, she feels less stress going to a closer hospital.

"There's less stress than driving downtown, paying for parking, looking for parking and just knowing that I can do this on my lunch hour is very convenient," Kemper said.

In the first year, nearly 3,500 people have been admitted, 30,000 people have used the emergency room, and 22,000 people have used the outpatient services.

"To improve the care and the health of our communities that we serve, and there's no better way to do that other than increasing access and making access easier and that is what we've done and definitely had the response and the support from the community," Shelburne said.

Nearly 1,000 patients have been diagnosed with heart disease in the hospital's state-of-the-art cardiac cath lab.

Health officials said many lives were saved because they were able to treat cardiac arrest more quickly.

"We're 20 minutes from the nearest hospital, so they're able to shave off time, which in many cases will shave off the risk for significant issues," Shelburne said.

One year in, and the hospital is already looking to add 20 inpatient beds, and a Brown Cancer Center location is expected to open next year in hopes of continuing to save lives.