The city of Henderson will welcome members of the United States military to conduct another Innovative Readiness Training mission, a follow-up to a June 2024 IRT mission that helped 1,642 patients, provided 34,161 procedures and gave out 917 eyeglasses.
This summer’s IRT mission, which brings together health professionals from different branches of the military will be June 10-19 at North Middle School.
There will also be services provided in Union and Webster counties, said Assistant City Manager Buzzy Newman.
Newman said the city applied with the Delta Regional Authority in the fall and received word recently that the city would again host the program.
He said the DRA provides money to fund the mission, and local governments also need to contribute funds as well.
He asked the Henderson City Commission for approval to expend funds for the city’s portion of the funding. Newman said the city will likely need to fund in the neighborhood of $35,000, which is similar to what the city funded in 2024.
All told, the June 2024 IRT mission at South Middle School saved residents some $1 million in healthcare costs, according to a city of Henderson release from the summer of 2024.
During the mission, service members provided medical, dental and optometry care for individuals at SMS and veterinary services at the Henderson County Fairgrounds. Also, many shelter pets from the Human Society of Henderson and New Hope Animal Shelter were spayed and neutered, said a previous Hendersonian article. At the 2026 mission, mental health services will be provided, city officials said.
The city of Henderson also said the 2024 mission deployed 171 service members to Henderson, and they totaled 18,158 hours of training during the 10 days of clinical care.
Newman cautioned, though, that because of current world geopolitics, there could be changes to the IRT mission this summer.
In other news:
- The city commission approved a municipal order that allots $675,000 from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to the city to pay for the design phase of the Audubon State Park access road that is planned to connect the park to Watson Lane. It’s an approval that allows the city to enter into an agreement with the professional tasked with designing the road, said City Manager Dylan Ward. The road is one piece of the Audubon State Park Convention Center project.
Regarding the Audubon Convention Center, Mayor Brad Staton said state legislators were receptive to his asking the state to provide more funding for the convention center project. The city has promised to fund $2.7 million, county government has pledged $2.5 million and state government has budgeted $8.5 million. He said inflation has upped the price tag since the project’s initial cost estimates in 2022. He asked that the state pay an additional $2.8 million. The state budget will be finalized at the end of the current General Assembly which ends in April. Staton said groundbreaking on the convention center will probably occur in spring 2027.
- The city commission approved the final version of the Parks, Recreation, and Trail Master Plan. There were no changes from the draft that presented at the Feb. 17 city commission meeting, Ward said. See it here.
- City Public Relations Director Holli Blanford presented the new design that will soon be on HART buses. “It closely reflects the brand you already see throughout the community,” Blanford said. The city commission was supportive in moving forward with the new wraps.
