LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Shelbyville Hospital now offers a higher level of medical care.
University of Louisville Health opened an intensive care unit at the hospital in Shelby County on June 14. With six beds, the unit has a focus on pulmonary care and is staffed with registered nurses who have specialized training to treat patients of a higher acuity.
The ICU will provide care for advanced pulmonary diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure (CHF), along with other conditions.
"I spent the last year taking care of COVID patients down at Jewish Hospital and many of those patients were from Shelby County, from this community," Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor said. "Had we had this ICU here, we could have taken care of them here. We need to keep care local, and that's what this ICU is going to do for us and this community."
According to a news release, UofL Health invested $650,000 in the facility in Shelbyville.
Shelbyville Hospital previously offered an intensive care unit until 2012, when the ICU was shifted to Louisville.
“Having an intensive care unit at UofL Health – Shelbyville Hospital will allow people to stay close to home as they recover from more significant illness,” Aaron Garofola, CEO of UofL Health – Shelbyville Hospital, said in a news release. “Through the hospital’s affiliation with UofL Health, we have been able to bring new outstanding new specialists to our community."
Within the first few hours of opening on Monday, the ICU had its first patient. Doctors said the first patients were lung patients.
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