Staff Reporter

staffreporter@alltel.net

Officials in Perry County met with Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Inc. officials Thursday afternoon for a two hour meeting regarding a grant agreement made in December of 2000. According to Hazard Mayor Bill Gorman, the meeting was very successful and he looks for ARH, which is headquartered in Lexington, to be progressive along with the City of Hazard.

Last week, The Hazard Herald reported that Perry County officials Mayor Gorman and Perry Judge Executive Denny Ray Noble were still waiting on a five year old promise from former president Stephen Hanson to bring

ARH's corporate headquarters from Lexington to Hazard. ARH's current CEO Jerry Haynes said last week that ARH not only fulfilled its commitment to Hazard and Perry County regarding the grant agreement of 2000, but that commitment of 81 jobs had been exceeded and 90 jobs had actually be created or relocated in Hazard.

Mayor Gorman is optimistic that ARH will continue to add to the already 1,364 jobs (of which 156 are corporate positions) that exist in Hazard. He mentioned that since 2002 ARH has brought $30 million worth of new projects to Hazard. That figure also includes the future cancer center that ARH told the Herald last week was coming to Hazard at a projected price tag of $6 million.

"ARH is committed to working with the City of Hazard/Perry County as it has for the past 50 years to provide needed services in the community," Haynes said last week.