Louisville’s Majority-Black West End Gets First Hospital in Over 150 Years
For more than a century and a half, residents of Louisville’s West End—a majority-Black neighborhood home to more than 60,000 people—lived without a hospital. Generations were born, raised, and died in a community where emergency care was often miles away, and access to specialized treatment even further.
Kamala Harris and the Future Of Healthcare Reform
That painful reality shifted this week with the opening of Goodwill Opportunity Campus’ Norton West Louisville Hospital, the area’s first full-service medical facility in over 150 years. The new hospital stands as a symbol of long-overdue investment in a part of the city overlooked by public and private healthcare systems alike.
Corenza Townsend, chief administrative officer for Norton West spearheaded the project.
"We had this plan," Townsend told CBS News. "It wasn't in writing yet. We happened to see Russ Cox, our CEO, walking to the bathroom. So we stalked him outside the bathroom...Nobody thought he would actually say yes. He said, yes. He just listened to us and he said, 'Let's do it. What do you need?'"
Through consistent work over the last eight years brought the hospital to fruition.
"The life expectancy in West Louisville is about 12-and-a-half to 15 years different here than anywhere else in the city," Townsend told CBS News. "That alone gives you reason enough to build a hospital in West Louisville."
The absence of a hospital in West Louisville wasn’t accidental—it was systemic. Decades of redlining, economic disinvestment, and structural racism kept healthcare infrastructure out of reach, even as other neighborhoods across the city saw growth.
Residents have long relied on facilities located outside their own communities, often having to travel 20 minutes or more in emergency situations. For those without cars or reliable public transit, the consequences were often dire.
Located at 28th Street and Broadway, the $100 million facility will offer 24/7 emergency services, outpatient care, primary and specialty services, and community wellness programming. The hospital is part of a broader revitalization initiative that includes workforce development and social services, led in part by Norton Healthcare and Goodwill Industries of Kentucky.
