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'It took intentional work': Goodwill, Norton break ground on 'opportunity campus' in west Louisville

Goodwill Industries of Kentucky and Norton Healthcare are investing more than $100 million to transform a 20-acre site into the campus.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the first time in more than 100 years, a hospital is expected to be built west of Ninth Street.

Goodwill Industries of Kentucky and Norton Healthcare are investing more than $100 million to transform a 20-acre site into a campus that will have Goodwill's headquarters operation, a full-service hospital and a collection of local agencies according to a press release.

Some of the local agencies include:

  • Big Brothers Big Sisters
  • KentuckianaWorks
  • Volunteers of America
  • YMCA
  • Legal Aid Society
  • University of Louisville College of Dentistry
  • Park Community Credit Union
  • Kentucky College of Barbering

DeVone Holt with Goodwill says he is a longtime west Louisville neighbor.

"We didn't get here by accident, it took intentional work," Holt said.

The new "Opportunity Campus" will create 200 new jobs, will serve 50,000 people a year and will have an economic impact of about $19 million a year.

“The commitment we are making in West Louisville will not only revitalize a blighted 20-acre property, but it will also provide a powerful combination of resources to help strengthen the lives of many local residents,” said Amy Luttrell, president and chief executive officer of Goodwill Industries of Kentucky. “When it opens, we expect this campus to be a national model that will encourage people to look to West Louisville for an example of how to create an environment of hope.”

Norton Healthcare CEO Russell Cox said the company is dedicated to improving health outcomes for people living in west Louisville. He said the location will allow people to have better access to regular care. 

"The need for specialty services close to home is very important," he said. “We’re going to be able to forge relationships, to build that trust that needs to happen to change those health statistics. We need families coming here.”

Jamesetta Ferguson, a local pastor and CEO of MOLO village, said she was thrilled to see a new hospital coming to the community for the first time in 100 years. 

Ferguson herself was born three months premature in what was then Louisville's African-American hospital, saved by a Black doctor. She said having understanding physicians who are representative of the community is crucial. 

“This means a promise is being kept. There have been many promises to the people in this community that there were going to be resources," she said. “If it could have happened 50, 65 years ago for me, then there’s no reason we shouldn’t have those same opportunities.”

Cox said Norton has been sourcing feedback from the community on the hospital for some time. He said they are committed to listening to what west Louisvillians want from their services. 

“We don’t want to build a new, old hospital," he said. "We need to make this as one stop shop as we can.”

Gov. Andy Beshear also spoke at the groundbreaking, saying "This community deserves more great days."

Goodwill originally announced the partnership with Norton in February 2022

Construction for Goodwill's "Opportunity Center" is expected to finish in 2023, and Norton Healthcare's hospital is expected to finish in 2024.

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