$583,000 grant for Grace Community Health project finalized

The Corbin City Commission approved the contract for a $583,000 grant to fund construction of the road and utility access to the planned Grace Community Health medical campus on the Corbin bypass.

At a special called meeting Friday morning, the commissioners unanimously approved a resolution for the grant and authorizing Mayor Willard McBurney to sign any and all documents related to the grant that comes through the Kentucky Department for Local Government.

Corbin Economic Development Director Bruce Carpenter said this is part of the process to move forward with the $30 million project that has been in the works since October 2014.

The grant was award in September.

Carpenter said no matching funds are required.

Michael Stanley, CEO of Grace Community Health Center, said the project, which was originally scheduled to break ground in early 2015, has been delayed as the non-profit organization has continued to expand.

“Even during this process, we have grown considerably,” Stanley said, noting that in addition to family practice, the organization offers internal medicine, women’s health, behavioral health, outreach and school-based health.

“The needs of the community were there and we were meeting the needs of the community. Now it is up to us to have a facility to bring that all under one roof,” Stanley said.

The project will encompass 10 acres of property in the Southeast Kentucky Small Business Park and Stanley said it could eventually expand by another 40 acres.

“We are excited about it and we are very thankful. God has really blessed us,” Stanley said previously.