History

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Old PMC Building

Pikeville Medical Center began as an idea and a dream of five leading citizens of Pikeville: A.C. Bond, MD; John W. Call; George Hames; Harry Hoskins; and R.S. Johnson, MD. The hospital admitted its first patient on Christmas Day, 1924. The Hospital became known throughout the mountains as “the house of hope and healing.”

Originally constructed for 50 beds, the growth and needs of Pikeville and the surrounding areas made expansion necessary. The first addition was dedicated in May, 1940, raising bed capacity to 90. Still another addition in 1952 brought bed capacity to 135.

Miner's Building

In 1955, the United Mine Workers of America built a second hospital at Harold’s Branch to provide medical care for its members. Eventually the hospital was bought by the Methodist Hospital of Kentucky. The structure, named The Miners’ Building, is the oldest section of PMC and is dedicated to the coal miners of the region.

The years 1957 and 1963 saw the hospital demonstrate itself as a community leader in medical services. When flooding of the Big Sandy River forced many citizens to flee their homes, the Hospital not only took care of its patients, but provided food, shelter, and medicines for those left helpless and homeless.

Eight-story tower

Within a few short years, it was apparent that a new hospital was needed to serve the people of East Kentucky. Expansion consisted of an impressive eight-story tower. The new facility opened its doors to its first patient on Christmas Eve, 1971. In time, the building was dedicated to a former president of the Hospital’s board of directors, William Ernest Elliott, Sr. The Hospital continued to be known for its commitment to providing excellent health care in a comfortable, friendly, and professional environment.

In June 1996, Pikeville Medical Center opened the Leonard Lawson Cancer Center to provide cancer patients with top-notch care in an environment that caters to the cancer patient’s special needs right here at home. The Lawson Cancer Center remains the only comprehensive cancer center in East Kentucky.

New May Tower

In 1998, the Hospital broke ground for a new 11-story, $75 million expansion project. The new May Tower was the largest construction project in East Kentucky and was dedicated on December 18, 2000 as East Kentucky’s Medical Leader. The first patient was admitted on Christmas Day.

The medical complex at PMC is now composed of four buildings all connected under one roof: the Miners’ Building, the Elliott Building (the old patient tower), the Leonard Lawson Cancer Center, and the new May Tower. The hospital has 535,552 square feet of floor space and is the largest building in East Kentucky. While the much larger hospital still keeps its license for a 261-bed facility including 40 beds in the rehabilitation hospital, it has the capability to expand to 500 beds as needs arise.

The hospital now offers a higher number of private rooms, an inpatient oncology (cancer) unit in addition to the outpatient Cancer Center, 13 surgical suites, a rapidly-growing cardiac catheterization lab, cardiac rehabilitation center, visitor lobbies on each floor and for specialized department such as the surgical, medical and neonatology intensive care units, a sleep studies laboratory and satellite pharmacies for the Cancer Center and the intensive care and surgical units. In addition, the hospital offers a neonatal unit which specializes in medical treatment for premature deliveries and underdeveloped newborns.

PMC has also become a teaching hospital with the addition of its residency program and Family Practice Clinic staffed by interns and residents of the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine. Doctors participating in the residency program, in addition to the Family Practice Clinic, serve on rotations throughout the hospital and provide on-call medical services.

Pikeville Medical Center has provided quality health care in a Christian environment. We offer services you can't find anywhere else in the region such as Neurosurgery, Open Heart Surgery, Inpatient Rehabilitation and Medical Detoxification. Even though we’ve expanded, our commitment to you remains the same thanks to our dedicated physicians, employees and Board of Directors.

Pikeville Medical Center: The Region's Medical Leader.