Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital

Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital
Bon Secours Kentucky Health System, Inc.
OLBH main hospital
Geography
Location	1100 St. Christopher Drive, Ashland, KY 41101 (physical location of the main campus is in Russell, KY)
Coordinates	38°30′30″N 82°41′33″W / 38.508414°N 82.692385°W / 38.508414; -82.692385Coordinates: 38°30′30″N 82°41′33″W / 38.508414°N 82.692385°W / 38.508414; -82.692385
Organisation
Care system	Private, Not-For-Profit
Hospital type	General
Affiliated university	University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	214
History
Founded	July 14, 1953
Links
Website	http://www.olbh.com/

Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital is a 214-bed not-for-profit acute care hospital located in Russell, Kentucky (with a mailing address of Ashland, Kentucky) in the Tri-State region of Northeast Kentucky, Southern Ohio, and Western West Virginia. Part of the Catholic-based Bon Secours Kentucky Health System, Inc., Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital employs approximately 1,200 healthcare professionals, making the hospital the largest employer in Greenup County.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, a congregation of Catholic sisters, received repeated requests from residents of different parts of Kentucky during the 1950s to open a hospital or social service center. In 1953 a group of concerned citizens approached the Most Reverend William T. Malloy, Bishop of Covington, and asked for his help in creating a new hospital called Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital (OLBH). Construction started in 1952 on a 31-acre (13 ha) tract, 4 miles (6.4 km) from downtown Ashland, Ky. At the time, the tract only was accessible by a small dirt road.

The official dedication of the hospital took place July 14, 1953 and included a reading of a cablegram from Pope Pius XII. It read, "Our Holy Father deeply grateful, learned forthcoming inauguration, Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, Ashland, Kentucky, sends cordial felicitations. Invokes God's special blessings, praiseworthy project. Imparts Your Excellency, priests, religious, faithful, and hospital staff, fraternal Apostolic Benediction."

Upon opening, the hospital had 92 beds and 40 bassinets. In March 1956, the road leading to the hospital was blacktopped and during the summer, a new highway, U.S. 23, was laid, thus reducing by about one-third the distance from Ashland to the hospital.

In 1963, a fund-raising project was initiated for expansion including additional beds for adult patients, a pediatric unit, and an air-conditioning unit for an additional floor. The fourth floor addition was completed in 1966 and brought the hospital's bed capacity to 126 with 22 pediatric beds and 19 medical-surgical beds. In the late 1970s the emergency room began serving patients 24 hours a day. The third floor of the hospital was renovated and the first Intensive/Coronary Care Unit opened in 1979. In 1981, expansion provided new areas for the Emergency Room, Radiology, Laboratory, Physical Therapy and Respiratory Therapy. OLBH's first chemical dependency program was established December 21, 1981.