Construction for the $47 million Shriners Hospitals for Children Medical Center on UK’s campus broke ground at 2 p.m. on Monday.

An $8 million capital campaign kicked off in October that has already raised more than $6 million for the project, according to a press release provided by UK public relations.

The facility will be constructed over the next 22 months.

According to the event’s fact sheet, relocating from the Shriners location on Richmond Road will “bring together the pediatric orthopaedic expertise Shriners is known for with the top-rated specialty and subspecialty pediatric care at Kentucky Children’s Hospital – a benefit to children with complex conditions.”

The new facility will be five stories tall and 110,000 square feet. It will be located on the HealthCare campus across from the Albert B. Chandler Hospital.

The press release referred to the building as a “state-of-the-art ambulatory care center.”

The center will have a motion analysis laboratory — one of three in Kentucky — as well as 20 patient exam rooms, two surgical suites, a rehabilitation gymnasium and therapy rooms, and interactive artwork.

Shriners Hospitals for Children operates in 22 locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and cares for children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, according to the press release.

STAFF REPORT