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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 18, 2024) — The University of Kentucky should work with partners to become the institution that does more than any other in the country to advance the health of the state it serves.

That direction was the driving sentiment of a resolution adopted with strong support Friday by the UK Board of Trustees at the conclusion of its annual retreat.

“As Kentucky’s university, we have the distinctive capacity — and singular opportunity — to do more, to be more, for our state and all those we serve,” said UK Board Chairman Britt Brockman. “We also have a special responsibility to do that in partnership with others — providers and caregivers, community leaders and policymakers -- those who have expertise and perspectives that we don’t have. It is acknowledgment that there is much more that we can do together than we can ever accomplish on our own or apart from one another.”

Specifically, the resolution adopted by the Board of Trustees following more of a day-and-a-half of meetings directed UK President Eli Capilouto and the campus to:

• Develop a specific growth strategy aimed at responding to the health-related workforce needs and shortages in Kentucky.
• Formally launch and expand statewide the Advancing Kentucky Together Network. This is the evolution of the academic health system’s affiliation model, applied not only to providers but to communities — their holistic health, workforce and education needs.
• Formalize, launch and expand deeper connections with communities, the University, UK HealthCare and UK’s Cooperative Extension Service.
• Develop the plan for a second Healthy Kentucky Research Building facility along with the talent necessary to support it.

“Advancing health means continually assessing and addressing the holistic health needs of the state. All of this is predicated on the idea of what we can do together,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “We are excited about this direction. We believe it speaks to what Kentucky wants and what communities and partners need if we are to do more — together — to advance the health of Kentucky.”

One new initiative resulting from the Board’s resolution is the activation of the Advancing Kentucky Together Network. For more than two decades, UK HealthCare has established and worked with affiliates – hospitals, clinics and providers – across the state to open greater access to specialty care, such as cancer, heart disease and stroke.

The Advancing Kentucky Together Network takes that affiliate model a step further. It will continue to work with providers and partners to increase access to care and help improve clinical outcomes. But it will also work with other partners across the state on other issues related to overall health, such as education and workforce needs and training.

The network will invest millions of dollars in new resources and intellectual property by UK HealthCare as part of the establishment of the new model – health care outcomes, workforce training and education – across the state. The Advancing Kentucky Together Network will start with clinical partnerships and then expand into other areas, depending upon the needs of partners.

Pikeville Medical Center, a long-time partner of UK HealthCare, was announced Friday as the first member of the Network.

“This is the evolution of our affiliation model,” Capilouto said, “applied not only to providers but to communities — their holistic health, workforce and education needs.”

“So much of what we will do to meet this moment returns to the seminal question we have asked so often of ourselves over the last several years: 'Do we care?'” Capilouto told Board members. “The resolution before you resoundingly answers 'Yes.'”

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 18, 2024) — A plan for addressing dramatically growing health, education and workforce needs across the state called the Advancing Kentucky Together Network was approved Friday by the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees.

The network will invest millions of dollars in new resources and intellectual property by UK HealthCare as part of the establishment of a new model for to advance health – health care outcomes, workforce training and education – across the state. The Advancing Kentucky Together Network will start with clinical partnerships and then expand into other areas, depending upon the needs of partners.

The creation of the Advancing Kentucky Together Network was approved as part of a resolution adopted by the UK Board of Trustees at its annual retreat. The resolution directed UK President Eli Capilouto to take steps focused on accelerating the university’s efforts to improve the overall health of the Commonwealth.

Pikeville Medical Center has expressed their intent to support and participate as the first member of the network.

“UK has an opportunity — and, we believe, a responsibility — to be the university in this country that does the most for the health of the state it serves. As such, we must be, and we are, focused squarely and strategically on the holistic health needs of the state,” Capilouto said. “Doing that successfully is the single most important way we can advance this state.”

Specifically, the Advancing Kentucky Together Network will focus on supporting partners that become part of the network by sharing expertise in tracking, measuring and documenting patient outcomes, enhancing educational opportunities for Kentucky’s workforce, research and training, and expanding community outreach for more patients to access as much of their care as close to their home as possible.

“Policymakers and partners alike are asking us to expand existing partnerships and explore new affiliations that would support their efforts to help Kentucky grow and prosper,” said UK Board Chair Britt Brockman. “This endeavor is a continued examination of both significant opportunities and challenges confronting the state.”

The creation of the network aligns with UK HealthCare’s longstanding commitment to: 

• Keep patients close to home when possible and appropriate.
• Support the education, retention and recruitment of Kentucky's workforce.
• Extend UK resources and expertise where there is an expressed need to continuously improve health outcomes and increase workforce opportunities.
• Collaborate with partners and communities in ways that improve an organization’s ability to track health outcomes and grow clinical services for both UK HealthCare and the community health partner.

Some examples of how the Advancing Kentucky Together Network would support its affiliates include:

• Reducing the burden on patients and their families by keeping patients close to home when possible and reducing wait times to get into subspecialty clinics.
• Linkage to UK’s clinical expertise and relationships with UK faculty, including access to clinical subspecialty expertise when appropriate.
• Providing resources including clinical program development managers, patient outcome metric training and education, compliance and risk management, and purchasing.

UK’s existing affiliations that have developed over the last 20 years will remain in place in critical clinical service line areas such as cancer, heart and stroke. Those affiliate relationships will continue to focus on disease and program-specific goals.

The new advanced network, in turn, will enhance overall support and collaboration and aid in providing such initiatives as:

• A Clinical Quality Program that will provide leadership in improving quality, safety, efficiency and experience in patient care.
• Workforce, Education, Research and Training that will be directly tied to UK’s seven health professions colleges as well as other University resources.
• Community Outreach and Education aimed at enhancing availability of care through access to UK’s clinical outreach program development project team.
• UK HealthCare Branding for approved co-branding opportunities.

“Advancing Kentucky is our way of creating and sustaining a stronger and healthier Commonwealth and a better country and world,” Capilouto said. “This is our mission — to do and be more for the state that we serve in a spirit of partnership and support of so many who share this vision.”

UK HealthCare is the hospitals and clinics of the University of Kentucky. But it is so much more. It is more than 10,000 dedicated health care professionals committed to providing advanced subspecialty care for the most critically injured and ill patients from the Commonwealth and beyond. It also is the home of the state’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that cares for the tiniest and sickest newborns, the region’s only Level 1 trauma center and Kentucky’s top hospital ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

As an academic research institution, we are continuously pursuing the next generation of cures, treatments, protocols and policies. Our discoveries have the potential to change what’s medically possible within our lifetimes. Our educators and thought leaders are transforming the health care landscape as our six health professions colleges teach the next generation of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals, spreading the highest standards of care. UK HealthCare is the power of advanced medicine committed to creating a healthier Kentucky, now and for generations to come.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 13, 2024) — It’s a simple, but powerful formula: more students succeeding at higher rates means a more skilled, healthy and educated workforce to meet Kentucky’s needs.

By those measures, University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto told members of the Board of Trustees on Friday, UK is making “historic strides in its mission to advance the state in terms of the numbers of students we are educating, retaining and graduating.”

“We know that what our students do here — and how successful they are at UK — will determine, in large measure, whether we are successful in advancing Kentucky,” Capilouto said. “Our mission — now more than at any time in our history — is to open our doors as wide as possible to more and more students, who will shape the future of this state. These numbers reflect our commitment to that ideal. These numbers reflect that we are Kentucky.”

Here are the details:

• For the first time, UK’s preliminary fall enrollment is over 36,000 students — 36,161 — about a 7% increase over last year. Of that number, 25,774 are undergraduates, a 7.5% increase over the previous year.
• The first-year class of 6,571 is also a record high and a little more than a 2% increase over last year’s class.
• In addition, 1,162 transfer students represent the largest number of transfers in more than a decade and about a 16% increase over last year.
• A record 18.8% of UK’s first-year students come from underrepresented backgrounds as defined by state policymakers and more than 17% of the overall enrollment does as well, according to preliminary figures; 26.1% of UK’s first-year class is first-generation.
• Even as the number of first-year Black students declined from last year by about 60 students, according to preliminary numbers, the number of undergraduates and overall number of Black students increased as did the numbers of Hispanic students and those identifying as two or more races.
• UK’s six-year graduation rate is now more than 71% — another record that places the university among the top 100 public, four-year institutions in America, based on the most recent data. UK’s four-year graduation rate is now a little more than 60% — almost 30 percentage points higher than it was 15 years ago. Preliminary retention — the percentage of students returning for their second year at the university — also is a record 87.3%.
• Another modern record is the number of degrees and certificates awarded by UK — 9,545 for 2023-24, according to preliminary numbers.

Finally, the university’s efforts to utilize innovative programs to propel student success also are paying off.

UK Invests — a first-of-its-kind program that debuted last year — provides access to low-risk investment accounts to every student, with opportunities for students to earn money for developing healthy habits. In the first year of the program, more than 20% of students have opened an account.

The retention rate of those students who were in their first year was about 92%, compared to a little more than 84% for those who did not participate. First-year students with UK Invests accounts also had higher GPAs — 3.3 compared to 3.0 who did not participate. More importantly, these gains are seen across levels of incoming student preparation.

Already this fall, more than one-third of new first-year students have opened UK Invests accounts.

“We exist to advance this state in everything that we do. And we are united in our focus on that mission,” Capilouto said. “The enrollment numbers represent one chapter in the story we are writing about what we are doing to honor that vision and achieve our mission. We don’t intend to stop. There are still too many chapters to write, too many stories to tell, so much more to do for our students, their families and this state whose name we bear.”

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.