Campus Funding

University of Kentucky Receives $10M Gift Toward New Cancer Center

• By Matt Jones
• 02/22/22

University of Kentucky HealthCare (U.K. HealthCare) in Lexington, Ky., recently announced that it has received a $10 million gift from Central Bank to go toward expanding patient care at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center.

Trustees approved a land purchase agreement of $6.9 million in December for land near the university’s Albert B. Chandler Hospital to build a new outpatient cancer treatment center. A news release states that the $10 million gift will go toward the building and development of the new, 260,000-square-foot complex.

“Cancer represents an area where our ingenuity and innovation are most needed. Kentucky leads the nation in cancer incidence and mortality. As such, we are determined to meet this moment—to channel our fierce resolve and address this stubborn and heartbreaking challenge,” said University President Eli Capilouto in a news release. “For those people and those families, this new facility will provide compassionate, world-class care, as close to home as possible. No Kentuckian should have to leave the state to receive the highest quality care. Luther Deaton, Joan Kincaid and the whole team at Central Bank recognize what it means to serve Kentucky. We are deeply grateful for this generous gift that will help us build a better tomorrow.”

This donation marks the second gift from Central Bank to the University of Kentucky’s cancer program. Joan Kincaid, owner of Central Bank, first donated to the UK Markey Cancer Center (previously known as the McDowell Cancer Network) in 1979. The cumulative total of both gifts exceeds $20 million, according to a press release.

The UK Markey Cancer Center serves as the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated center in the state and, as such, offers early-phase therapies not available elsewhere. Its outpatient clinic visits have skyrocketed by 57 percent since gaining NCI-designated status in 2013, and it received more than 120,000 patient visits in FY2021 alone.

The new complex is set to include space for advanced ambulatory / outpatient clinics, outpatient operating rooms, procedure rooms, imaging and diagnostic space, pharmacy and lab services, and meeting rooms.

“This building is a dream come true and will be hugely transformative for our state,” said Dr. Mark Evers, director of Markey Cancer Center. “Currently, our facilities are spread out, and our patients oftentimes have to go to multiple buildings to see their physician and obtain laboratory studies and treatments, which can be quite stressful. This new building will allow our patients to be dropped off at the front door, see their physician and obtain their lab work, X-rays and treatments, all in one place. It will be a tremendous help and asset for our Markey patients.”