Our Focus on the People of Kentucky

Campus Colleagues,

The UK Board of Trustees recently held their annual retreat, where typically the focus is on a critical aspect of our university’s mission to advance Kentucky. The Board retreat helps the university align with the most pressing needs facing our state. This October, the focus was on the health of Kentucky and the role that UK plays in the overall health of our communities.

During the Board retreat, I led a panel of some members of our health care colleges and health care partners to discuss health education for the Commonwealth. Discussions included our health care colleges’ current partnerships and future opportunities to partner, as well as the benefit of such partnerships to communities throughout Kentucky.  As the flagship institution for Kentucky, we are tasked with caring for the health and well-being of our people.

We have reaffirmed that commitment to care through our mission of education, research and service. Our new Michael D. Rankin MD Health Education Building will be a hub for innovative educational spaces that create flexibility for curriculum evolution and enrollment, while focusing on developing a sense of community that will promote success and access among faculty, staff and students. 

The One Health Symposium, hosted at UK by The Gatton Foundation and the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, highlights UK’s commitment to care through a collaborative approach to health — One Health is an approach that emphasizes the interconnectedness of the health of humans, animals and the environment we share. 

And the Advancing Kentucky Together Network, the plan for addressing our state’s growing health, education and workforce needs approved by the Board last week, begins with our clinical partnerships across Kentucky. By supporting our health care partners in communities throughout the Commonwealth, we are focusing on providing care — and in turn, helping to grow our state and increase opportunities for all our people.

This spirit — of collaboration and teamwork — is one I believe we all embody at UK. Working across disciplines, we can achieve more than we could alone. A transdisciplinary approach is a necessity to ensure we utilize various perspectives and equip students with the skills necessary to advance the health of our Commonwealth.

Our focus after the Board retreat — as it always has been — is on our people. We are helping solve the problems in communities across Kentucky and beyond, and we are preparing our students to do the same in the future.

Thank you for the substantial role you play in that mission.

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D. 
Provost