Care for our people.
Common sense for our city.

Mike is an Electroneurodiagnostic (END) technologist — a specialized medical professional. That's a mouthful, so here's the plain-English version: he runs the brain-wave and nerve tests that help doctors find seizures, strokes, and brain injuries.

When someone has a seizure, a stroke, a head injury, or unexplained numbness and weakness, doctors need to see how the brain and nerves are actually working. Mike is the person who performs those tests — attaching sensors, running the equipment, and reading the results that guide a patient's care.

What that means in plain terms

• He performs EEGs — brain-wave tests that help diagnose epilepsy and seizures.
• He runs nerve-conduction and evoked-potential tests that find nerve damage and brain-injury problems.
• He monitors patients' brains and nerves during surgery, so surgeons know the moment something changes.
• He works at the bedside with patients who are scared — and with families who are worried.

How this helps our community

Bardstown has fewer hospital beds and worse health outcomes than the state average, and nearly 1 in 10 residents is uninsured. When a neighbor has a seizure or a stroke, they shouldn't have to drive to Louisville to be seen. Mike has spent his career making sure people get the testing and answers they need — close to home.

Mike is the owner and operator of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Bardstown — an 80-room hotel he built from the ground up on Morton Avenue. He's also Executive Vice President of MD Hospitality Group, the family company behind it.

He didn't inherit a business and coast. He broke ground in 2018, opened the doors, and built something that employs 25 to 35 of our neighbors — front-desk staff, housekeepers, maintenance, and managers. He's one of the largest private employers in town, and he still works the desk.

What he's built and where he serves

• Owner & operator — Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bardstown (80 rooms, ~25–35 local jobs).
• Executive Vice President — MD Hospitality Group, the family hospitality company.
• President — Jay Hospitality Group, named for his late father, Jay Patel.
• Board of Directors — Bardstown–Nelson County Chamber of Commerce.
• His family also owns America's Inn on New Haven Road.

How this helps our community

When Mike built the hotel, he said he did it to fulfill his father's dream — and to “give back to the community that welcomed our family with open arms.” A mayor who has met a payroll, balanced a budget, and hired local people knows what it takes to keep Bardstown's economy moving. He's done it — not just talked about it.

Mike doesn't do charity for the photo op. He does it because it's who he is. When our neighbors need a hand, he's usually already there — and he brings resources with him.

Just a few examples

• He donates his hotel's trolley — the “Spirit of Bardstown” — to carry seniors and neighbors to meals, appointments, and community events when they have no other way to get there.
• He supports our local food pantries and meal programs, helping make sure no senior or child in Bardstown goes hungry.
• He backs senior-care and community efforts across Nelson County — often without anyone knowing his name was behind it.
• He employs local people and treats his staff like neighbors, because they are.

How this helps our community

In a town where 1 in 7 neighbors is food insecure and many seniors can't drive, a ride to a meal or a doctor's appointment is the difference between being cared for and being forgotten. Mike's trolley has quietly closed that gap for years.