With a more than $2 billion expansion planned for UK HealthCare, the University of Kentucky is also expecting growth for its staff and number of students in health-related fields.

Plans for the expansion were discussed at the university health care committee Thursday, and will go before the full board for approval Friday.

The expansion includes adding an additional 300 hospital beds to the Chandler Hospital campus and four new outpatient locations in and around Lexington over the next several years. The university is also focused on growing its health education programs and expanding its health care workforce. In total, university officials estimated the expansions could cost $2.4 billion.

Part of that plan includes growing the staff to meet the expanded offerings of the hospital, and increasing the number of students in health care-related fields to address shortages in Kentucky, said Robert DiPaola, acting co-executive vice president for health affairs.

UK is constructing a health education building, scheduled to open in 2026, which will bring together four colleges under one roof: the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Health Sciences and the College of Public Health.

By bringing the different programs in one place, DiPaola said there will be more opportunities for collaboration and to address the health care needs of the state.

“It’s an opportunity to bring those colleges together on a regular basis to sort out and coordinate on how we increase the workforce for Kentucky,” DiPaola said.

It also means UK will be able to admit more students wanting to study those fields. Currently, the university sets its enrollment caps based on classroom constrictions and clinical capacities. A larger space, and hiring additional staff, will make more admissions possible, DiPaola said.

“The opportunity to bring those strengths together, especially with the health care-related colleges, will help us with a pipeline of workforce, not only for UK, but throughout Kentucky,” DiPaola said.

UK has increased its capacity of the College of Medicine in recent years by opening up two new campuses in Bowling Green and Northern Kentucky. Doing that increased enrollment to 800 students. With the new building, there could potentially be more than 1,000 students enrolled in the College of Medicine, DiPaola said. Other health care colleges would also see increases, he said.

The expansion of the Chandler Hospital campus also means additional hospital staff will be hired. UK has asked the state for permission to add 300 beds to Chandler, which would mean an additional 4,800 employees would be needed.