Oshkosh was chosen because it once was the site of an ambulatory care center in 2000; six years later, Aurora has turned into a medical center.
Proceeding with an ambulatory care center may be in the best interest of Jessamine County, according to Sen. Tom Buford, who was one of the Jessamine Countians in attendance.
"Right now, the certificate of need process in Frankfort will be really only for ambulatory care," Buford said. "The county is not large enough to support an acute care facility according to the cabinet secretary Mark Birdwhistle, who is making the decision over in that department."
He added Jessamine County's close proximity to Lexington hospital and Ephriam McDowell in Danville also hurts its cause for a full-service hospital.
With that information, Nicholasville City commissioner Russ Meyer said Oshkosh's model is a feasible one for Jessamine to mimic.
"Economically, it's the most conservative approach," he said. "They did that here with the Aurora facility, and if we can just mirror what they did here, it would be a huge success and down the line we can have the acute care hospital."
Rob Kleman, executive director of the Oshkosh Area of Economic Development said much of the north end of the city has seen great development since the hospital first opened as an ambulatory care facility in 2000.
"It's definitely spurned additional development and it's been an economic driver in our community," he said.
Nicholasville physician Dr. Stephen Draper attended the tour and said as long as the economics add up, then an ambulatory care center would make sense for Jessamine County.
"I think this is a beautifully planned and executed ambulatory care center they've come up with here," he said. "It has a lot of flexibility for future expansion. If an analysis of the numbers shows that it would be financially viable for Jessamine, it should be a very nice asset."
