The Northern Kentucky Health Department is officially opening its new Kenton County Health Center in Covington on Friday with a ribbon cutting and open house starting at 3 p.m.
Among those expected to speak at the event are St. Elizabeth Healthcare President and CEO Garren Colvin, Kenton County Commissioner Beth Sewell, and Kentucky State Senator Shelly Funke Frommeyer.
The address is 1514 James Simpson Jr. Way, Covington.
The Center began welcoming patients last month, but has been working on putting some finishing touches on the building.
“The Kenton County Health Center is one of the busiest of our four health centers and having this new building will give us the space and resources necessary to better serve the people of Kenton County,” says NKY Health District Director of Health Jennifer Mooney, PhD.
Last year, the Center served 5,657 clients, provided 193 immunizations to children, screened 277 women for cancer, and provided 4,821 families with WIC benefits.
The Center is one of four health centers under the umbrella of the Northern Kentucky Health Department, along with health centers in Boone, Campbell, and Grant counties.
The Kenton County Health Center has been operating out of an older, two-story building at 2002 Madison Avenue in Covington for the last 17 years. Prior to that it was at three different locations on Scott Street dating back to its inception in 1972.
The concept for a new building was initiated at a Board meeting in November 2016. In the summer of 2017, an agreement was reached that St. Elizabeth Hospital would donate the land to the Kenton County Fiscal Court with the understanding it would be the site of the new health center. As plans were being developed, the project was put on hold as a result of the COVID pandemic. Plans were reopened in 2022 and construction began in May 2023.
The 10,000-square-foot building cost $4.6 million, and was paid for by the Kenton County Board of Health.
The Health Center is named for longtime Kenton County Judge Executive James A. Dressman, who served on the Kenton County Health Center’s Board of Directors for 13 years.