If you have had to endure a lengthy wait at the Baptist Health Corbin ER in recent years, new hospital President Angelia Foster has some good news for you. Thanks to a planned $100 million renovation project, BHC will be expanding its ER from 14 beds to 34, will bring the number of trauma rooms from one up to three, and will add floors for critical care and progressive care that will feature private rooms.
“This will change the entire face of the campus, and provide tremendous access for the community,” said Foster, who served as the special guest speaker at last week’s Corbin Rotary Club meeting at David’s Steakhouse. “For an ER that was designed to care for 24,000 people a year that is actually caring for 45,000 people a year, this will get us closer to 65-75,000 people a year that we can take care of.”
In addition to this exciting announcement, Foster took the opportunity at the Rotary meeting to offer up a little bit of background on herself. With family ties in Bell County, BHC’s newest president said she knows what life is like living in Appalachia.
A breast cancer survivor, Foster said that it is very important for her to personally help spread the word about early detection. She said that it saved her life, and it is something that she intends to speak on and advocate for in her new role.
Foster said the biggest reason that she agreed to come to Corbin was because she believes in the hospital’s mission statement of “demonstrating the love of Christ by providing and coordinating care and improving health in our communities.” She has worked in the healthcare field for 15 years, but she said this is her first opportunity to go to work as part of a faith-based organization.
Foster pointed out that BHC is the largest hospital facility between Lexington and Knoxville, employing nearly 1,300 people with an average tenure of about 14 years. She said that the upcoming expansion project should add around 150 more jobs to that total.
After sharing some information on the many different types, and overall large volume, of patients that BHC has treated in the past year, Foster highlighted some recent awards earned for exceptional service in areas such as stroke, diabetes and chest pain.
Foster was proud to report that the Baptist Health Foundation of Corbin had raised over $7 million from about 280 different donors in fiscal year 2024. These funds are put toward efforts such as patient support, employee support, paying for student scholarships and providing upgrades to the hospital’s cafeteria, among other projects.
For additional information on the foundation, including how to donate, go online to www.supportbaptisthealth.org/giving-back/donate-now.
Finally, before ending her presentation, Foster shared the positive impact that BHC has had on the region through the recent “100 Days of Service.” The initiative saw hospital employees partnering with other organizations and individuals in the community in order to carry out various service projects. When looking at the statewide numbers, BHC contributed to:
- Nearly 11,000 lives touched
- 88 community partnerships formed
- Over 2,400 health screenings for heart, lung, colon and orthopedic
- $36,000 worth of food donated
- 82,000 baby care items provided to new mothers
- 651 pairs of shoes and backpacks given to school kids
- About 260 bags of trash collected by over 300 volunteers
- 117 students introduced to healthcare careers
- 350 units of blood donated
For more information on Baptist Health Corbin, visit them online at www.baptisthealth.com.
