Norton Healthcare
Encyclopedia
Norton Healthcare is Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

's largest healthcare system with more than 40 locations in and around Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. Founded in 1886, Norton's current major products include pediatrics
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...

; women's services; orthopedics
Orthopedics
Orthopedics is the study of the musculoskeletal system. The Greek word 'ortho' means straight or correct and 'pedics' comes from the Greek 'pais' meaning children. For many centuries, orthopedists have been involved in the treatment of crippled children...

; cardiac care
Cardiology
Cardiology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the heart . The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology...

; stroke care; advanced surgical services; cancer diagnosis, prevention, and treatment; and a neurospine center.

Major facilities

The system's most notable locations are five acute care hospitals located within Metro Louisville:
  • Kosair Children's Hospital (263 licensed beds) - Kentucky's only free-standing full-service children's hospital
  • Norton Audubon Hospital (480 licensed beds)
  • Norton Hospital & Norton Healthcare Pavilion (719 licensed beds)
  • Norton Suburban Hospital (380 licensed beds)
  • Norton Brownsboro Hospital (127 licensed beds)


Additionally, Norton Healthcare provides service through twelve immediate care centers in the Louisville area.

Employment and market share

According to Business First of Louisville, Norton Healthcare is the Louisville area's third largest employer, with 9,400 employees (2006; previous years: 8,525 employees, 2005; 7,850 in 2004). Norton employs some 3,000 nurses and has more than 2,000 affiliated physicians. Additionally, Norton has programs in place to support nursing students attending both public and private universities in Kentucky and Indiana. The Norton Healthcare Scholar Program is designed for nursing students to cover the cost of tuition, books, and room and board. In return, the student must work for Norton for one month per 500 dollars received after graduating. .

When compared to other healthcare providers in Louisville, Kentucky, Norton is the market share leader in five major areas. This includes 46% of all inpatient admissions, 61% of all births, 53% of all Emergency Department
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...

 visits, 41% of all outpatient visits, and 50% of total surgeries.

History

What is now known as Norton Healthcare originally started with the actions of the Home Mission Society of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Mary Louise Sutton Norton led this group, through her fund raising ideas and leadership, to create The John N. Norton Memorial Infirmary in 1886, which was named in honor of her late husband. The hospital system has had multiple influences from religious groups over the years, including the Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, and the Louisville Catholic communities, all of which were dedicated to promoting the idea of health and medical care for the sickly and less fortunate.

Also of note is Norton's Kosair Children's Hospital, opened in 1892, dedicated to assisting children with any form of illness or injury. For over 30 years, Kosair hospital was run entirely by a workforce consisting of 99% volunteer members. In more recent decades, Kosair has become a leader in regional medical care and positive community activities for children, regardless of their parents' or caretakers' abilities to pay for Kosair's services.

Planned growth

In March 2006, Norton Healthcare received state approval to move the inpatient beds at its smallest hospital, Norton Southwest Hospital, to a new hospital at the Old Brownsboro Crossing development in northeast Louisville. The acute care beds at Norton Southwest Hospital were deactivated, and the location has since been re-named Norton Southwest Medical Center. The facility retains a full-service Emergency Department
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...

, physician offices, a variety of outpatient services, and an inpatient nursing and rehabilitation facility (Park Terrace) operated by a third party.

The first phase of the new development is an outpatient care center called Norton Medical Plaza which opened on July 10, 2006. The second phase will be a 127-bed acute care hospital. On September 13, 2006, Norton officials announced that hospital would be named Norton Brownsboro Hospital.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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