MORGANTOWN, WV (May 29, 2019) – A formal agreement has been signed by Monongalia Health System, Inc. (Mon Health System) and WVU Hospitals to combine the assets of Monongalia Emergency Medical Services (Mon EMS) and HealthTeam Critical Care Transport, establishing a single countywide emergency medical system to better serve the needs of Monongalia and Preston county residents.
Under the terms of the agreement, HealthTeam’s operations in Monongalia County will be transferred to Mon EMS. After the two operations are combined, Mon EMS will be jointly managed and operated by Mon Health System and WVU Hospitals. This partnership between Mon Health System and WVU Hospitals will make emergency medical services in Monongalia County more efficient under a consistent, cost effective, and rapid response model. It will offer basic and advanced life support throughout the region.
“Our mission is to continue to enhance and provide the residents of Monongalia County with the best emergency medical services possible,” said David Goldberg, President & CEO of Mon Health System. “This groundbreaking collaboration will continue to provide best in class care, superior response times across the community and shows we can all align around our community’s care.”
Through this partnership, Mon EMS will continue to have ambulances based at the present Mon EMS headquarters, at the Gateway complex, Cheat Lake VFD, Clinton District VFD, and Clay-Battelle Health Center. Other locations may be added in the future and are under review. The Mon EMS ambulances will be co-branded after the joint agreement is in effect and will display the name “Monongalia EMS.” The logos of Mon Health and WVU Medicine will be jointly displayed to show the partnership of these two longstanding quality providers.
“Bringing these two services together will allow us to better meet the county’s emergency medical, rescue needs and private patient transport needs ensuring we keep our patients in the center of all we do,” explained Goldberg.
A new director will be recruited to lead the new partnership. In the meantime, current Special Operations Supervisor of Mon EMS, Pat Cornell, and the current President of HealthTeam, Clinton Burley, will serve as co-interim executive directors of Mon EMS. David Custer will lead efforts on County disaster preparedness planning, education and coordination in alignment and direction of James Smith, director of MECCA 911.
“We look forward to working together and with the Monongalia County Commission on continuing countywide emergency ambulance services that best serve the needs of the residents of Monongalia County. We also see this partnership as a model approach to improving access, reducing redundancy and delivering on our commitment to high quality community-based care services,” said Albert L. Wright Jr., President & CEO of WVU Hospitals.
The combination will take effect July 1, 2019.
About Mon Health System: Mon Health System is an integrated network of physician clinics, outpatient centers and hospitals in North Central West Virginia that works together to make health care more accessible and affordable to the communities it serves. It includes Mon Health Medical Center in Morgantown; Mon Health Preston Memorial Hospital in Kingwood; Mon Health Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Weston; Mon Health EMS in Morgantown; Mon Health Equipment & Supplies in Morgantown; and The Village at Heritage Point in Morgantown. For more information, visit monhealth.com.
About WVU Medicine: The West Virginia University Health System (operating under the brand name WVU Medicine), the state’s largest health system and largest private employer, is comprised of nine hospitals – its flagship academic medical center, West Virginia University Hospitals 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, Jackson General Hospital in Ripley, 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 from Mon Health, contact: Emily Gallagher at egallagher@monhealthsys.org.