Our History

The Beginning

Sterling Health Care’s story started in the spring of 2012 with an idea. Community leaders, including the Health Department Director, applied for a New Access Point Grant with Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to locate a Community Health Center/Federally Qualified Health Care (FQHC) clinic to the initial service area of Bath, Menifee and Montgomery counties.

The grant was awarded in June 2012 and Sterling Health Solutions began seeing patients on October 1, 2012, in the new primary care site located at 209 N. Maysville Street. A second location, the OB/GYN office of Dr. Byram Ratliff at 15 Sterling Avenue, was also acquired at that time to give the company two locations in Montgomery County. The initial providers for primary care were Dr. Richard Hall; Connie Smith, Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner; and Julena Adams, Physician Assistant.

A total of 718 patients were provided care through the remainder of calendar year 2012, launching the story of the company that today employs more than 210 employees and has attained multiple milestones during its journey:

2012-2015

SHC reports patient care increase of nearly 700% between these years

2016

May – SHC-Owingsville clinic opens
July – Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition received for SHC – Mount Sterling
August – School-Based Health opens in Montgomery County
December – SHC opens its third clinic in Carlisle; Montgomery Dental Center opens in Mount Sterling

2017

February – A full-time onsite interpreter is added to the staff
May – Montgomery Dental Center and Sterling Women’s Care (Mt. Sterling) move to a new facility
December – SHC reports provision of care to 9,144 patients

2018

June – Sterling Health Pharmacy opens
November – Sterling Crossroads (drug abuse) program begins
December – SHC reports provision of care to 11,012 patients

2019

January – School-Based Health opens in Nicholas County; school-based dental and behavioral health added
February – Administrative offices move to current location of 236 West Main Street in Mount Sterling
April – Company begins transportation services, as well as Community Health Worker and Outreach programs
June – SHC-Indian Mound clinic opens
July – PCMH recognition received for Owingsville clinic
August – School-based dental is started in Montgomery County School District
December – SHC reports provision of care to 15,694 patients

2020

June – Sterling Women’s Care-Winchester opens
August – SHC-Urgent Treatment Center opens on Maysville Street in Mount Sterling; School-Based Health opens in Powell and Bourbon counties
December – SHC reports provision of care to 19,450 patients

2021

March – SHC-Stanton clinic opens
July – PCMH recognition is received for both the Carlisle and Indian Mound clinics; New contractual agreements for pharmacies
August – SHC provides initial donations in amount of $11,000 to county school districts utilizing its School-Based Health Program. Annual donations will go towards covering the cost of admission to schools’ athletic contests for every district student.
October – Official groundbreaking ceremonies held for construction of new facilities in Carlisle and Mount Sterling
December – SHC reports provision of care to 25,170 patients

2022

May – SHC opens on-site pharmacy in the Stanton clinic
August – SHC is informed by the Kentucky Primary Care Association (KPCA) that it has been chosen as a recipient of a 28-foot mobile medical unit to add to their future services. Exact date of allocation is unknown at time of award.
September – Company transitions to a new Electronic Health Record provider (AthenaOne)
September – SHC is selected to receive the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program ‐ Medication Assisted Treatment (RCORP-MAT) Access Grant through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The award, valued at $1 million per year for three years, provides funding for the fight against substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder, in high risk rural communities. SHC is one of only 11 nationwide recipients for the grant.

2023

April – SHC opens new, 9,000 sq. ft. facility in Carlisle at 1355 Concrete Road. Facility replaces the previous clinic and offers more providers and more services which now include Primary Care, Behavioral Health, Dental Care, X-rays, and an On-Site Pharmacy with drive thru.
August – Paris City School District in Bourbon County is added to the School-Based Health program.
September 14 – The official ribbon cutting ceremony for Sterling Health Care’s new 20,000-square-foot facility in Mount Sterling is held at its 633 Maysville Road location, directly behind the Montgomery Dental Center and the SHC Women’s Care facility. An open house later that evening draws a large attendance and four days later, on Sept. 18, the facility welcomes its first patients. The facility consolidated the personnel, services and resources of the former SHC clinics at 209 N. Maysville Street (main), Indian Mound, and the Urgent Treatment Center.