BradenHealth, which announced in August it had acquired the former Jellico Hospital, held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for what will now be known as the North Campbell Community Hospital.
“It is not a small inconvenience you are dealing with. In rural medicine, distance is the difference between life and death. That is something we understand very well at BradenHealth,” Kyle T. Kopec, co-founder, Chief Compliance Officer, and Vice President of Government Affairs at BradenHealth, said during the ceremony.
“We want to be very plain about what today is. Today is not a ribbon cutting. Today is when real work really begins. It is another step in restoring a full service hospital to your community. We know you have already been asked to wait way too long.”
Since the hospital last shutdown on March 9, 2024, the community has been forced to travel 30-35 miles north to Corbin or roughly the same distance south to LaFollette after an ambulance picks them up.
“We have been fortunate nothing catastrophic has happened. Obviously, we have lost some people unfortunately,” noted Jellico Alderman Joe Creekmore.
Kopec said the hospital has closed more than once since 2021, and there was a difficult closure in 2024.
“A lot of people came and made empty promises. We are very thankful for your prayers and your trust, and we will not let you down,” Kopec said.
Several Jellico officials and dozens of area residents turned out for Friday’s event.
“I would like to thank BradenHealth for seeing the potential in this facility and making the commitment to bring healthcare back to our community,” Jellico Vice-Mayor Sara Barton said Friday.
“This hospital means more than a building. It represents hope, opportunity, and renewed investment in our community. Today is about recognizing that work has begun.”
Jellico Mayor Sandy Terry noted Friday was a special day for Jellico, the surrounding communities and their neighbors to the north in Kentucky as they are all blessed because the hospital is going to open back up.
“I would like to thank especially BradenHealth for being interested in the city of Jellico and the hospital. To come forward and to want to open this wonderful, blessed building for us, there is just not words to speak today for all the need this city has for a hospital. We are blessed, as a community, to have them holding the hospital for us.”
The renovation is already underway.
It will be a fully functioning hospital when it opens.
The hospital will be licensed as a full service hospital with an emergency department, radiology and so forth. The emergency department will also be capable of conducting labor and delivery.
Kopec noted at a time when a lot of rural hospitals are closing, BradenHealth is excited to be able to reopen the one in Jellico.
At a time when many rural hospitals are closing, why is BradenHealth reopening some of those facilities?
Kopec said the company works very closely with regulators and carefully manages the hospitals.
“Because of that, we are very successful. We also work very closely with physicians. Our model keeps the staff and the patients here. Because of that, we have had tremendous success,” Kopec said.
Kopec said the first services the hospital will offer are the emergency department, radiology and labs, and it will grow from there.
After the hospital fully opens, it will employ approximately 120 employees and possibly more, Kopec said.
Creekmore noted BradenHealth has a proven track record and Jellico will be its seventh facility. Most of those facilities are in western Tennessee.
Creekmore said Jellico officials called other towns where BradenHealth has facilities and talked to officials there.
“I only got high praises and compliments about them,” he added.
The company operates five other hospitals in western Tennessee and one in Virginia.
