(PADUCAH, KY - February 5, 2013) – Western Baptist officials announced today the hospital is changing its name to Baptist Health Paducah to reflect the strength of its statewide system and reinforce its mission of enhancing the health of the community.

“We are excited to announce that all seven hospitals in our Baptist family across Kentucky are adopting the same name to signify our unity and better align our medical expertise, services and resources to promote good health,” said Larry Barton, president and CEO of Baptist Health Paducah.

The announcement comes as the Paducah hospital prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year.

It has been part of the same Baptist system since it opened in 1953. The system, formerly Baptist Healthcare System Inc., announced its name change last September, noting that all of its hospitals, clinics and physician groups would re-brand over the next several months.

“It is exciting to have a new name and a new logo that better describe our services in the modern healthcare era,” Barton said.

However, he noted the hospital’s Christian mission to enhance health and commitment to provide quality care is unchanged. “Our new brand just magnifies our long-held promise to treat you like you are a member of our family,” he said.

Baptist Health Paducah has long been a leader in regional healthcare, opening the first heart center in Kentucky west of Louisville in 2007, extending outpatient imaging to four locations and expanding surgical services to include the region’s largest hybrid operating room and only dual da Vinci robotics. More babies are born there than at all other western Kentucky hospitals combined.

“As a part of Baptist Health, we believe we are positioned to grow to meet the needs of our communities,” Barton said, “so you can get the same expert care here you’d expect in Nashville or Louisville.”

The system was founded in 1924. It owns hospitals in Corbin, La Grange, Lexington, Louisville, Madisonville, Paducah and Richmond and manages hospitals in Elizabethtown and Russell Springs.

Tommy J. Smith, system president and CEO, said the new brand promotes the system’s cohesiveness while keeping healthcare “local” at each facility. “We have for many years been much more than a system of hospitals, and the new name reflects the broad scope of services that Baptist provides throughout the state,” he said.

The new brand is effective immediately, but changes on signs and in print will be phased in over the next few years. It features a new vibrant logo, featuring leaves to symbolize Baptist Health’s growth; a cross, revealed in the space between the leaves, representing the constancy of Baptist’s spiritual roots; and a starburst to show vitality and hope. 

About Baptist Health Paducah

Baptist Health Paducah is a regional medical and referral center, serving about 200,000 patients a year from four states. With more than 1,800 employees and 200 physicians, it offers a full range of services, including cardiac and cancer care, diagnostic imaging, women’s and children’s services, surgery, emergency treatment, rehabilitation and more. Since its humble beginning as Western Baptist in 1953, it has grown from 117 beds to 349 beds on a campus covering eight square blocks. It currently offers the region’s only certified stroke center, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and da Vinci robotic surgery, along with the first accredited chest pain center and largest hybrid operating room.

About Baptist Health

Baptist Health began as a single hospital in 1924 with the opening of the 120-bed Kentucky Baptist Hospital in Louisville. The system formed following the opening in 1953 of the 117-bed Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah and the 1954 opening of the 173-bed Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington. Headquartered in Louisville, it is the state’s largest not-for-profit healthcare system with more than 2,300 beds and 17,000 employees at seven owned hospitals (Corbin, La Grange, Lexington, Louisville, Madisonville, Paducah and Richmond) and two managed hospitals (Elizabethtown and Russell Springs).  Its mission is to exemplify its Christian heritage of providing quality healthcare services by enhancing the health of the people and the communities it serves.