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ASHLAND, Ky. (Jan. 29, 2021) — King’s Daughters Health System and UK HealthCare, the clinical health care system of the University of Kentucky, announced today their intent to enter into a significant partnership that will create new opportunities for both organizations to better serve patients throughout Kentucky, southern Ohio and West Virginia.

The executive committee of UK’s Board of Trustees and King’s Daughters' Board of Directors endorsed the formation of the new joint venture partnership during special meetings this morning. It is anticipated that the final operational details of the partnership will be announced in early April.

A new governing group will be formed for the proposed joint venture with equal representation of both UK and KDHS. David Jones, current chair of King’s Daughters Board of Directors, will serve as chair of the new board. Kristie Whitlatch, RN, MSN, will continue in her role as president and chief executive officer of King’s Daughters. While Whitlatch will join the UK HealthCare management team, no additional changes in management, compensation, benefits or job responsibilities are anticipated at either UK HealthCare or KDHS.

“Our goal in entering into this partnership is to strengthen local healthcare,” Whitlatch said, “not just in Ashland and eastern Kentucky, but throughout the Commonwealth and beyond.” King’s Daughters has enjoyed a longstanding, positive relationship with UK HealthCare, Whitlatch noted, including an affiliation with UK’s Markey Cancer Center.

“This is a win-win situation for two strong organizations,” said Dr. Mark F. Newman, UK executive vice president for health affairs. “This partnership builds on our existing relationship and creates mutual alignment between our two organizations,” he said.

The partnership will provide expanded access to tertiary-level services for residents of Eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio, including access to UK HealthCare’s solid organ transplantation program, bone marrow transplantation and expand on the existing relationship between UK’s Markey Cancer Center and King’s Daughters, Dr. Newman noted.

“We are excited to begin working more closely with our friends at UK HealthCare and being able to provide even better care, greater access, and advanced technology to our communities through this partnership,” Whitlatch said.     

 To see the Approved Recommendation from the UK Board of Trustees Executive Committee, click HERE.                                                                                               

**About UK HealthCare: **UK HealthCare employs more than 9,000 people with 945 licensed beds at UK Chandler Hospital, UK Good Samaritan Hospital and UK Kentucky Children’s Hospital. It also includes UK Markey Cancer Center, Gill Heart and Vascular Institute, Kentucky Neurosciences Center and more than 150 outpatient clinics and services.

About King’s Daughters: King’s Daughters Health System (KDHS) is comprised of two acute-care facilities – 465 licensed beds in Ashland and an additional 10 licensed beds at King’s Daughters Medical Center Ohio, located in Portsmouth. It also includes a long-term care facility, five urgent care centers and more than 50 physician practices serving the tri-state area from locations throughout Eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio.

HARRISON STREET FORMS JV WITH GREYSTAR TO RECAPITALIZE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY ON CAMPUS HOUSING PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

Transaction Includes 6,850 Beds

CHICAGO –January 21, 2021 – Harrison Street, pursuing its P3 infrastructure strategy, has acquired a significant minority interest in a portfolio of on-campus housing at the University of Kentucky (“UK”) as part of a newly formed joint venture with Greystar Real Estate Partners, LLC ("Greystar"), a global leader in the investment, development and management of high-quality rental housing properties. The investment is structured under a Public-Private-Partnership (“P3”) model in which Greystar will continue the day-to-day operation and management of the project in a fully integrated collaborative arrangement with the University of Kentucky.

Comprised of 14 modern, LEED-Certified facilities across nine resident communities with an average age of five years, the investment includes 6,850 beds.  The project is heavily weighted toward single occupancy units with a low bed-bath ratio, which has allowed substantially normal operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The highly structured project is fully contracted with UK through co-terminous Ground Leases and Affiliation Agreements

Christopher Merrill, Harrison Street’s Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “UK launched this groundbreaking initiative in 2011, and it has since become a signature, landmark higher education P3 in the US.  This P3 partnership with Greystar and the University of Kentucky, a leading flagship public institution, reflects Harrison Street’s position as the partner of choice to colleges and universities in North America. We look forward to bringing our expertise in providing strategic capital to bear to ensure UK’s students have access to high-quality living arrangements that facilitate their academic experience on campus.” 

Bob Faith, Greystar Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “In 2011, Greystar (formerly Education Realty Trust) and the University of Kentucky embarked upon a historic multi-phased P3 partnership to replace dated on-campus student residences and dining halls. Following a successful decade in partnership, we are pleased to welcome Harrison Street to one of the premier P3 partnerships in the nation, as their capital resources and expertise will provide an undeniable benefit to the partnership and allow us to collectively further improve the student on-campus living experience.”

Harrison Street is a market leading private investor in the off-campus student housing market. In addition, it has invested $2.6 billion in public to private partnerships (“P3”) serving education, healthcare, and government users. The firm’s higher education P3 portfolio totals 14 colleges and universities and over $2.0 billion in AUM complimenting its off-campus portfolio at over 150 universities.

About Harrison Street

Harrison Street is one of the leading investment management firms exclusively focused on alternative real assets. Since inception in 2005, the firm has created a series of differentiated investment solutions focused on demographic-driven, needs-based assets. The firm has invested across senior housing, student housing, healthcare delivery, life sciences and storage real estate as well as social and utility infrastructure. Headquartered in Chicago with an office in London, the firm has more than 190-employees and approximately $32 billion in assets under management. Clients of the firm include a global institutional investor base domiciled in North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Latin America. Harrison Street has been awarded Best Places to Work by Pensions & Investments for the last seven consecutive years and was named 2019 North American Alternatives Investor of the Year by PERE. For more information, please visit www.harrisonst.com. 

About Greystar

Greystar is a leading, fully integrated real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development, and management of rental housing properties globally. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates over an estimated $200 billion+ of real estate in nearly 200 markets globally including offices throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, managing approximately 713,000 units/beds, and has a robust institutional investment management platform with approximately $37.2 billion of assets under management, including over $16 billion of assets under development. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 with the intent to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com.

Media contacts:

For Harrison Street:

Nathaniel Garnick/Grace Cartwright

Gasthalter & Co.

(212) 257-4170

For Greystar:

Brittany Jones

media@greystar.com

(843) 576-5753

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 8, 2020) — University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto shared a video message with the UK community Wednesday, Oct. 7. He discussed reasons for altering the Spring 2021 academic calendar. Please view the video above and read accompanying information below.

Dear Campus Community,

We have officially passed the half-way mark of this semester. Thanks to the good decisions you are making each day to keep our community safe, we remain hopeful about our goal to continue in-person instruction until Nov. 24 and the Thanksgiving Break.

I’m deeply grateful for the sacrifices you have made thus far.

Looking ahead, we recently announced changes to the academic calendar for the spring 2021 semester. We took the same approach toward the spring as we did the fall; the central idea is to keep students on our campus, as much as possible, until the end of the semester in the interest of health and safety.

A complete listing of our revised calendar can be found here: https://www.uky.edu/registrar/spring-2021-semester.  

As always, critically important efforts like these have many sources. Faculty leaders engaged in this process, and the University Senate Council ultimately reviewed and approved the plan. A number of our COVID-19 workstreams provided key input and the plan was reviewed by our Emergency Operations Center.

We believe this adjusted calendar provides the best option for keeping our community safe and well.

Keep updated on our COVID-19 response here: https://www.uky.edu/coronavirus/.

Eli Capilouto