$50M medical complex proposed for Nicholasville, Ky.

May 1--NICHOLASVILLE -- A developer wants to build a $50 million medical complex in south Nicholasville, and has received offers of support from University of Kentucky Healthcare and Danville-based Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center.

The 42-acre site off U.S. 27 would have an ambulatory care center and a medical office building. Eventually it might also include an assisted living center and even a helipad for an air ambulance, said property owner Dallas Murphy of Lexington.

In addition, Royal Manor Healthcare Facility, an 83-bed Nicholasville nursing home, has expressed interest in relocating from Sparks Avenue to the Murphy property, according to a letter from the home's administrator.

The project would continue Jessamine County's rapid growth in medical facilities -- though none is the full-service hospital county residents have sought.

Murphy's land is near the Memorial Sports Complex, a privately financed ballpark that draws thousands of youth baseball players and parents from all over the country to Nicholasville each year. The city annexed the property in 2005.

Murphy is not new to the effort to bring more medical services to Nicholasville. He supported Associated Healthcare Systems of Brentwood, Tenn., the former parent company of Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, when it received state approval in 2006 to put an ambulatory care center in Nicholasville.

But Associated Healthcare Systems filed for bankruptcy last fall. So, with approval from a Tennessee bankruptcy court, Murphy purchased the entity called Associated Healthcare Systems of Jessamine County LLC.