HAZARD, Ky. (LEX 18) — This week Kentucky State University is announcing new partnerships that they hope will provide much needed healthcare to certain areas of the bluegrass.
The University’s president, Dr. Koffi Akakpo, says, "We are very excited to launch the initiative and grateful to our partners for doing this in this important journey."
Kentucky State University has been traveling across the Bluegrass, unveiling a new mobile health initiative to bring health care to underserved areas. Friday, they announced a partnership with Hazard Community and Technical College (HCTC). Ashley White is a student at HCTC and grew up in the area. She's seen what a lack of medical care can do.
Ashley says, "I’ve had several family members as they talked about the diabetes and things. My mom is a diabetic, type one diabetic. My grandmother. She died at age 36 from diabetes and COPD."
Now, she's working to get her associate's degree from HCTC. She wants to become a nurse one day and is excited about how this unit will not only help the community but also offer more professional pathways.
KSU has three of these mobile units. One will be located in eastern Kentucky, one in western Kentucky and one was unveiled in Louisville on Thursday.
The focus of these units will be to meet people where they are. Associate dean and professor for human nutrition and food safety at KSU Dr. Avinash Tope explains that it will screen people for some of the most common conditions ravishing this area, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and more.
Tope says, "What we can bring to the community is nutrition, education, and using that nutrition education is the base address some of these chronic health conditions."
These screenings won't require insurance and aim to be more accessible across incomes and distances. There's also an education component. The initiative will teach the importance of a balanced diet alongside medications that treat the conditions mentioned before. Ashley thinks all those conditions are impacting this area.
She says, "A lot of those things have a lot to do with the reason why people are dying younger."
This unit won't just be able to help in Hazard but in surrounding counties too. Ashley says she thinks this will spark a big change here.
"Good things usually don’t happen to us here around here in our county or surrounding counties. It kind of feels like we’re just off to ourselves sometimes. But for them to choose us, our county, and to partner with HCTC ... it’s gonna be great,” says Ashley.
