Louisville, Ky. – Greater Louisville Inc. will recognize two Greater Louisville organizations, Norton Healthcare and Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, with its first-ever Community Visionary Award for their collaboration to bring the Norton Healthcare Goodwill Opportunity Campus to fruition. The Community Visionary Award was created to recognize organizations and individuals who go above and beyond to solve community challenges through innovation and collaboration.
The Norton Healthcare Goodwill Opportunity Campus is a 20-acre community resource hub for West Louisville residents. The property houses a 125,000 square-foot facility, the Goodwill West Louisville Opportunity Center, that serves as a one-stop shop for residents to access a complement of resources to help enhance their lives. It is also home to the Norton West Louisville Hospital, which opened in November and is the first new hospital west of Ninth Street in more than 150 years.
“When we looked back on this year and all our community accomplished, there was no contribution more impactful than the opening of the Norton Healthcare Goodwill Opportunity Campus,” said Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, president and CEO of GLI. “It is visionary leaders like Russ Cox and Amy Luttrell that have the ability to work against decades of systemic inequity to make a meaningful impact on the wellbeing of so many in our region. That is why we created this special award to recognize the impact their investment will make and the spirit of selfless collaboration that fueled this project.”
The Goodwill Opportunity Center houses 11 co-located partners to help with job placement and resources including a technology lab, business center, conference rooms, a full-scale resource center and more. In its first year, the Opportunity Center hosted over 2,500 visits with members of the community and provided over 35,000 services. Collectively, Goodwill and its partners will bring more than 200 jobs to West Louisville at an average annual wage of $59,000 and will serve approximately 50,000 people every year, with an anticipated annual economic impact of $18.7 million.
“We are honored to be awarded GLI’s inaugural Community Visionary Award for our collaboration with Norton Healthcare to bring this transformative campus to West Louisville. The Norton Healthcare Goodwill Opportunity Campus helps further our mission by providing accessible resources that directly serve our community’s unique needs. We could not have asked for a better partner in this work than Norton Healthcare who shares our passion for the Greater Louisville community,” said Amy Luttrell, president and CEO, Goodwill Industries of Kentucky.
Norton West Louisville Hospital offers comprehensive services including adult and pediatric primary care offices, a 24-hour emergency department, retail pharmacy, operating rooms and 20 in-patient rooms. The $90 million project was a collaborative effort with the West Louisville community with Norton Healthcare collecting over 4,500 surveys from residents to shape the design of the hospital and its offerings.
“Norton West Louisville Hospital is a major step in addressing health disparities and increasing access to preventative care,” said Russell F. Cox, president and CEO, Norton Healthcare. “Our community has been at the center of every decision about this hospital and their feedback helped to build what you see today. Together, we will begin to shift health outcomes and we are already seeing the impact of this hospital at 28th Street and Broadway.”
Providing care to the community is also creating new employment opportunities. Norton West Louisville Hospital employs more than 380 people.
GLI’s Community Visionary Award is a special recognition that will only be given periodically to recognize transformational investment and leadership within the community. The award will be presented to Norton Healthcare and Goodwill Industries of Kentucky at GLI’s 2024 Annual Meeting presented by Baird on February 11, 2025. Tickets are available here.
About Greater Louisville Inc.
Greater Louisville Inc. is the Metro Chamber of Commerce and represents 15 counties in Kentucky and Indiana. GLI’s mission is to grow businesses and the regional economy. GLI supports businesses during every stage of development and represents the collective needs of the business community by advocating for pro-growth policies and economic development investment, and deploying programming centered around attracting and developing talent and economic inclusion. GLI is the 2019 National Chamber of the Year and is one of only three percent of chambers nationally certified with 5-star accreditation status by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Learn more on social media @GLIchamber or visit www.greaterlouisville.com.