LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Five years ago, Corenza Townsend had a vision to build West Louisville’s first hospital in 150 years.

What You Need To Know

  • Construction is past the halfway point for the Norton West Louisville Hospital

  • Corenza Townsend is the Chief Administrative Officer of the project

  • The hospital being built in an undeserved area of Louisville 

  • Norton West Louisville Hospital is expected to open late 2024

Townsend is on the construction site so often she has her own personalized hardhat. In fact, she has two. The project she’s working on at 28th Street and Broadway is the forthcoming Norton West Louisville Hospital.

For Townsend, the project is personal. Townsend and her team approached Norton Healthcare’s CEO five years ago about building a hospital on the city’s west side. It’s a dream of Townsend’s and every day it’s becoming more of a reality.

“If you work hard, and when you have a suggestion or an idea, if you have the data to back it up to present that, right? So, dreams do come through, that’s the first one,” Townsend said.

Norton Healthcare is more than halfway into this historic project. In the modern era, there has never been a full-scale hospital in Louisville’s West End.

It goes without saying few people can ever say they are building a hospital, but Townsend can. “We don’t just pop up hospitals all the time, so to be able to say I’m bringing up a hospital in amazing,” Townsend shared.

Townsend began her career with Norton 15 years ago as a registered nurse. Eventually, she began working in leadership and is now laying the foundation for better health in a part of the city that for far too long has been undeserved.

It is a fact never overlooked by Townsend, who was named Chief Administrative Officer when plans for the site were approved. “We said we need to do more here for our neighbors in West Louisville. As far as access to care, I think we should build a hospital in West Louisville. Fast forward five years, here we are,” she shared.

And it’s not just Townsend who appreciates the significance of the build. Jayfayre Covington is the Senior Project Manager of the build. “Been really fortunate to move back here. I’ve been back in the city for about seven years now and this is one of the most impactful ones as we bring a hospital to the west end, the first one in 150 years,” Covington said.

If good never comes easy, that’s why Townsend goes to work in a hardhat.

Related Stories