Vancrest Groundbreaking Held for Kenton Facility

Vancrest held a Groundbreaking Ceremony Tuesday afternoon for its new facility on Wildcat Way in Kenton.

After the ceremony, a champaign toast was held at the Coterie in the city’s downtown.

President Mark White stated that it takes two things to be successful in operating a nursing facility, “It takes a good quality staff, and it takes a clean modern facility. I don’t think you can be successful overcompensating with one or the other, and what we found over time is not only did the new builds we’re building bring and attract patients, they also bring a workforce. Some of our lowest openings are at new buildings. “

Chief Operating Officer Shane Stewart stated that they believe in quality. He noted that with five stars being the highest, “We have nine five stars and the rest are four, so on that side, yes we build beautiful campuses, but I think we back it up with the service we provide to our communities across the state, so we’re pretty proud of that.”

Kenton Mayor Lynn Webb said this is another big win for the city, “With our new schools out there and what we’re doing downtown, thank you for believing in us, because you guys, like I said, it’s like you guys were the first up to bat and you hit a homerun. This is a big win.”

Hardin County Commissioner Fred Rush took a line from another Fred to describe his feelings, “It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood, and it’s wonderful day today in the Kenton neighborhood and in the Hardin County neighborhood.”

The 67,700 square foot facility will be a 64-bed nursing and residential care facility.

It is expected to create 51 jobs and a payroll of nearly 2 million dollars.

If all goes as planned, it will open in the Spring of 2027.

Vancrest was founded in 1960 by Dr. E. E. White.

They remain family-owned, led by Dr. White’s son Mark White.