Healing Kentucky: Medicine in the Bluegrass StatePaperback, 1 January 2007

Most towns did not have hospitals of their own before the mid-twentieth century, and Kentucky towns were no exception. Kentucky's first real hospital opened in 1823, but it was in Louisville-too far away to serve many Kentucky communities, especially in cases of emergency. For this and other reasons, the lifespan of the average Kentuckian in the 1800s was only 40 years. Today it has grown to 75, and trained medical professionals are available to most communities throughout the state. Healing Ken