UK HealthCare's 220,000-square-foot Hamburg East building off Winchester Road should see its first patients in spring 2029. What it will offer.

UK HealthCare broke ground Thursday on a 220,000-square-foot outpatient building in Hamburg, on Lexington’s east side. The building on Cowgill Way, off Winchester Road, is estimated to cost about $275 million.

Construction should be substantially complete in December 2028, and the first patients are expected in spring 2029. The details are from the University of Kentucky’s announcement of the Oct. 15 groundbreaking.

What will be inside

The building is meant to bring specialty care out of the main campus and closer to where patients live. UK lists:

  • adult and pediatric primary care and urgent care
  • a combined musculoskeletal team: orthopaedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and interventional pain
  • women’s health
  • ear, nose and throat
  • ophthalmology, dermatology, cardiology, neurology and rheumatology
  • infusion services other than cancer treatment
  • imaging and laboratory services
  • a full-service drive-thru retail pharmacy

UK expects the building to handle about 300,000 outpatient visits a year by 2034. UK HealthCare already logs more than 3 million outpatient visits a year, about 2 million of them in its clinics.

Why Hamburg

The university said the Hamburg area has the largest concentration of UK employees in Fayette County. It also said the site, near Interstate 75, gives its many Eastern Kentucky patients easier access as they travel to Lexington.

“This area in and around Hamburg has the largest concentration of UK employees in the county and allows us to create easier access to care close to where employees and their families live,” said Eric N. Monday, UK’s executive vice president for finance and administration.

The UK Board of Trustees approved buying about 41 acres at the corner of I-75 and Winchester Road (U.S. 60) in 2023. Cowgill Inc., the original landowner and developer, began site preparation in February 2024 and finished earlier this year.

The first phase also includes green space, an arrival plaza and parking. UK calls the building the first phase of a multiphase development at Hamburg East. Its announcement does not say what later phases will include.

Who builds and owns it

The project is a public-private partnership with PMB LLC, a health care real estate developer. According to UK:

  • PMB will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the building
  • UK keeps the land and leases it to PMB for an initial 65 years, with possible extensions
  • PMB leases the building back to UK for 15 years, with renewal options of two or 10 years

Mayor Linda Gorton spoke at the groundbreaking. “Our city is a centralized hub for many of Kentucky’s healthcare needs, from emergency and specialized services, to routine care,” she said.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. The building is not due to see its first patients until spring 2029.
  • East-side and Eastern Kentucky patients stand to gain the most. Primary care, urgent care, specialists, imaging, lab work and a pharmacy will share one building near I-75.
  • Other UK clinics are opening sooner. UK said it has clinics in Frankfort, one opening next month in Richmond and another coming to Newtown Pike in Lexington.
  • Expect construction traffic around Winchester Road and Cowgill Way. Our road construction and closures page tracks lane closures, and our Hamburg neighborhood guide covers the rest of the area.