As president and CEO of ARH Advanced Care, Barker will direct the day-to-day operations of the two new Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals (LTACHS), designed for patients with medical conditions requiring highly specialized care for more than 25 days, according to a statement from ARH. Following the “hospital in a hospital” LTACH model, the LTACHs can access multiple levels of medical, rehabilitative, and psychological services tied to a single system while also supporting continuity of physician and specialist oversight of patient care.

The $13 million project calls for space on the Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center campus to be converted into a 25-bed, nearly 16,000-square-foot Long-Term Acute Care Hospital that will operate as ARH Advanced Care — Kentucky River. An 11,000 square foot, 25-bed ARH Advanced Care — Big Sandy hospital will be located at Tug Valley ARH Regional Medical Center in South Williamson.