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The Greater Louisville area is home to more than 2,000 health-related companies, employing 72,000 workers who earn more than $2.4 billion annually. The companies include 15 hospitals, two Fortune 500 headquarters (Humana Inc. and ), medical suppliers, insurers and claims processors.
Growth of the health-care sector, a strong part of the local economy for decades, was a major priority of a community Visioning report commissioned in the late 1990s by Greater Louisville Inc. the Metro Chamber of Commerce. Results to date show the value of a strong public-private focus on a major economic niche for the area.
The Louisville Medical Center is a 25-block area in downtown Louisville that provides the unique infrastructure required by life sciences and informatics companies, including a business park and life sciences business incubator. More than 200 health-related organizations surround seven core hospitals in the center, which is also home to the University of Louisville?s Health Sciences research center. Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson chairs the Board of Directors of the Medical Center Development Corporation, which also includes the leaders of major non-profit hospitals and the University of Louisville President. A bio-medical research park currently has three facilities offering wet lab and office space, and eventually will house more than 500,000 square feet of facilities for high-tech and life science companies.
The Metacyte Business Lab in the Medical Center research park, supported by Louisville Metro and Kentucky state governments along with other public and private partners, identifies promising life science and healthcare technology that eventually can be brought to market to create new businesses for the Metro area. The Metacyte facility serves scientists, physicians, inventors and entrepreneurs in the health care field.
Bucks for Brains is a matching Endowment program (currently around $400 million) launched by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1997, to help attract talented researchers to Kentucky universities. The University of Louisville, designated as one of the state?s two primary research universities, has tripled its research spending in the last 10 years through 52 endowed chairs, most focused on health-related areas.
Louisville medicine has made news in recent years for cutting-edge work on spinal disease, organ transplants, microcirculatory research and hand surgery. The nation?s only two successful hand transplant operations and the first two operations implanting the Abiocor self-contained artificial heart took place at Louisville?s Jewish Hospital, and the Norton Hospital Spine and Neuroscience Center was the site of the first operation implanting an electronic nerve stimulator for treatment of epileptic seizures.
The Greater Louisville Health Enterprises Network has more than 170 member companies, including hospitals and health services firms, medical device manufacturers, and government agencies. One of seven business networks incubated by Greater Louisville Inc the Metro Chamber of Commerce, the non-profit Health Enterprises Network focuses on attracting, retaining and expanding health-related companies in the Louisville area. Activities include helping emerging companies seek funding, increasing and improving the health services workforce, and supporting legislation that promotes the growth of the health-care sector in the region.
Source: Greater Louisville Inc.
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