Kentucky

Pikeville University is a flagship for best practices in rural health, particularly for physicians serving the Appalachian region with nearly 60 percent of their graduates serving the area.

In 2011, EDA invested $1.4 million in the University of Pikeville to fund the purchase of high-tech training equipment and expand the nursing program at Pikeville University – Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine, including a clinical lab and simulation center, standardized patient laboratory, and nursing classrooms. The investment in the nursing program supported the expansion of the Pikeville Medical Center and helped fill jobs at two additional hospitals. According to the grantee, $165 million in private investment was generated, an additional 60 nurses will be graduating each year, and a local hospital has committed to hiring roughly 45 of the graduates.

Then in 2016, EDA further invested $4,974,100 in Assistance to Coal Communities funds to the University of Pikeville to help purchase equipment, instructional supplies, and other materials to help launch the Nation’s largest optometric college in terms of floor space, the University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Optometry (KYCO). The college will both grow the healthcare workforce and improve access to vision care in Central Appalachia. KYCO will be only the second optometry college in the Appalachian Region, and will primarily serve Eastern Kentucky, Southern West Virginia, and Southwestern Virginia. Within the first three years of the award, KYCO will graduate 60 optometrists, provide care to 12,000 patients, and bring $26,000,000 in direct economic impact to the regional economy.