MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Jackson General Hospital in Ripley has signed a letter of intent to join the West Virginia University Health System. WVU Hospitals will file a Certificate of Need (CON) application with the West Virginia Health Care Authority seeking approval to acquire the hospital.
Jackson General Hospital entered into a management agreement with WVU Hospitals on Sept. 1. At that time, Stephanie McCoy, M.B.A., R.N., president and CEO of Jackson General Hospital, became an employee of WVU Hospitals. Under the letter of intent, Stephanie McCoy will remain as president and CEO of the hospital. WVU Hospitals will request a CON for Jackson General Hospital to join the WVU Health System in 2019.
“Our management agreement with Jackson General Hospital provided us with another linchpin in the Ohio Valley area to ensure that the residents of that area had access to quality care in their backyards,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System, said. “We believe this acquisition will serve to strengthen the partnership we’ve already established with Jackson General Hospital and will provide the people of Jackson County with unprecedented access to specialty care within the WVU Health System when and if they need it.”
Jackson General Hospital, which was founded in 1964, is a 25-bed non-profit critical access hospital that employs more than 300 people. The hospital provides inpatient, outpatient, primary, and emergency care; specialty services, including ophthalmology, orthopaedics, general surgery, urology, and interventional pain; infusion, physical, and respiratory therapies; and imaging and laboratory services.
“The Board of Directors of Jackson General Hospital strives to ensure the continued presence of Jackson General Hospital as a local hospital for many years to come, focusing on the healthcare of Jackson County and this region,” Rob Fisher, chairman of the Jackson General Hospital Board of Directors, said. “It is our belief that Jackson General Hospital’s alignment with WVU Medicine will meet the goal of our local hospital allowing us to provide the highest healthcare standards available through a major state-wide healthcare system.”
The West Virginia University Health System, the state’s largest health system and largest private employer, is comprised of nine hospitals – its flagship hospital, J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown; Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg; Braxton County Memorial Hospital in Gassaway; Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg; Jefferson Medical Center in Ranson; Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser; Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Glen Dale; St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon; and United Hospital Center in Bridgeport. It also provides management services to Summersville Regional Medical Center in Summersville, Wetzel County Hospital in New Martinsville, and Garrett Regional Medical Center in Oakland, Maryland. The WVU Health System also includes five institutes – the WVU Cancer Institute, the WVU Critical Care and Trauma Institute, the WVU Eye Institute, the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, and the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute.
For more information, visit WVUMedicine.org.