As residents traveled to Nashville for cancer care and heart surgery in the ’80s, Med Center Health launched the region’s first local cancer center and open-heart surgery program. When Medicare didn’t fund seniors’ prescription drugs in the ’90s, the MCH’s Community Clinic provided them for many who otherwise couldn’t. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005, Med Center Health emergency staff deployed to help victims.

These, says former 34-year MCH administrator Jean Cherry, are the types of stories that drive the passion of MCH staff — and they’ll be part of an extensive history being told now, as MCH marks its 100-year anniversary.

Throughout the year, Med Center Health is celebrating its Aug. 2, 1926, date of establishment, drawing from extensive research and insights to thread together a multimedia storyline online and indoors about MCH and southcentral Kentucky’s healthcare landscape. Simultaneously, MCH is marking the anniversary with a yearlong community service program where residents and organizations can request MCH staff’s volunteer support. And, MCH notes that at least three big projects are slated for fruition this year: the opening of Med Center Health Emergency + UrgentCare at Lovers Lane, the High Street Tower at The Medical Center at Bowling Green, and the launch of a new electronic health record system.

The storyline — in part being told through social media, primarily Facebook, throughout the year — aims to highlight pivotal moments and individuals who’ve contributed to major developments, chronologically where possible, said Corie Martin, MCH’s executive director of marketing and public relations.

It draws from insights of an internal steering committee, a legacy committee of MCH retirees and a community committee, she said. It also pulls from numerous hundreds of photographs, videos, newspaper clippings and other media that MCH is digitizing to eventually go online.

MCH also plans to add a timeline art installation that has taken years to develop along the pedestrian walkway in spring that goes over High Street and connects the main hospital to the D-Tower, Martin said.

Meanwhile, the volunteer request initiative — separate from the hundreds of community service projects MCH staffers partake in year-round — enables residents and organizations to reach out for hyperlocal support. To do so, they can contact MCH Volunteer Services Manager Joe Thompson at thomjs01@mchealth.net for assistance on projects; this program is currently in place and will be promoted throughout the year, with a press announcement slated for this week along with a website posting, Martin said.

MCH has a committee for selecting which projects to pursue, Martin said. These are mainly group projects — for example, those requiring volunteers for a 5k or a park cleanup, she added. Those that contribute to the health and wellness of communities will take priority, and MCH also considers factors like serving underserved populations, she said.

Meanwhile, the Med Center Health Emergency + UrgentCare at Lovers Lane has a tentative ribbon cutting at the end of April.

The High Street Tower at The Medical Center at Bowling Green will open around MCH’s 100th birthday and bring to town a center focused on women’s and children’s services.

MCH’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will move there alongside the OB emergency department, labor and delivery and C-section suites so when a person has a childbirth emergency, they won’t require transportation between areas. Often, expectant mothers enter through the emergency room or main entrance for assessment and then are transported to the correct area, according to MCH.

“Here, everything that Mom needs is going to be in one space,” Martin said.

And, MCH anticipates implementing the electronic health record system Epic in December 2026 — which Martin describes as “a complete cultural shift” to improve the experiences of patients and physicians across facilities. When patients previously received care in another hospital that uses the Epic system, MCH can access their information, which ensures continuity of care, she said.

“I do think it was no accident that we have decided to implement such an innovation in our 100th year,” Martin said. “I think it does speak to how we are constantly moving forward, and the whole point of the Epic implementation is to put the patient at the center of what we do — so that process is driving home the point of what our mission is, throughout the 100 years, and every other year to follow.”