Groundbreaking ceremony for new WVU Eye Institute held
Leaders from WVU Medicine and West Virginia University gathered on Jan. 24 to kick off the construction of the future WVU Eye Institute.
Hoppy Kercheval, the radio dean of West Virginia broadcasters, emceed the event. Speakers included WVU President Gordon Gee; WVU Health Sciences Chancellor Clay Marsh, MD; WVU Hospitals President Michael Grace; and WVU Eye Institute Executive Chair Thomas Mauger, MD.
While the event took place at the Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown to escape the cold and snow-covered construction site, an excavator was live streamed officially breaking ground.
The WVU Eye Institute, the most comprehensive ophthalmology group in the state, will expand its clinical, educational, and research efforts with a new $233 million outpatient facility near its current location on the WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital campus in Morgantown. The 150,000-square-foot building is being constructed at the intersection of Van Voorhis Road and Elmer Prince Drive.
“We are excited to partner with the Eye Institute to build a world-class facility that can accelerate and expand its mission of providing the most advanced and specialized eye care to the people of West Virginia,” Michael Grace, EdD, MBA, FACHE, president of WVU Hospitals and chief administrative officer of the WVU Health System, said.
“A new structure for the Eye Institute also gives us additional room as we start to plan for the construction of a new cancer hospital that would be part of the J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital medical complex.”
The construction of the more than 150,000-square-foot facility will allow the WVU Eye Institute to better meet the needs of its patients, as it will result in a substantial increase in exam and testing rooms. The current WVU Eye Institute has 60 exam rooms and 13 testing rooms; plans for the new Institute include space for 102 exam rooms and 44 testing rooms. The new facility will also include surgical suites.
“This is an exciting moment for the Eye Institute as it looks to a future of growth and expansion to serve our patients better, especially for those patients who need our highly specialized eye care,” Thomas Mauger, MD, executive chair of the WVU Eye Institute and chair of the WVU Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, said. “We are the only provider in the state and in the neighboring regions in Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania for most of the conditions we treat.”
According to Dr. Mauger, the size and scale of the new facility will enable his team to be able to respond better to the brisk demand for the specialized services of the Eye Institute. A larger facility will also enable the Eye Institute to recruit more providers and expand its service offerings. It will increase the number of trainees the Institute can accommodate to continue to grow the next generation of ophthalmologists and will allow for the expansion of clinical research into new treatments for the diseases and conditions that most affect the people of the state and region.
“Located in a state with the second-highest rate of visual disability in the nation, we are discovering new ways to prevent, treat, and slow the progression of incurable eye diseases,” Mauger said. “With this new facility, we will be able to add faculty, space, and funding to continue expanding these efforts – and breaking new ground along the way.”
The project is expected to be completed in 30 months.
Below are some photos from the groundbreaking ceremony for the new WVU Eye Institute.