MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A subsidiary of WVU Hospitals will file a Certificate of Need (CON) application with the West Virginia Health Care Authority for the operation of Summersville Regional Medical Center (SRMC).
The City of Summersville Building Commission entered into a management agreement with WVU Hospitals on June 18. At that time, Karen Bowling, vice president of care delivery transformation for the WVU Health System, was named interim CEO. She will continue to serve as interim CEO until receipt of a CON and closing of the transaction.
“We believe that people should not have to travel great distances to find quality healthcare, which is why it was important to us that Summersville Regional Medical Center continue to be a resource for the people of Nicholas County,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System, said. “This transaction will allow us to provide Summersville residents with the care they need close to home, and it will provide easy accessibility for those who need to come to Morgantown for more specialized care.”
SRMC has been serving Nicholas County and southern West Virginia since the late 1960s. Its 105 beds include the county’s only nursing home beds. The hospital employs 500 professional staff. WVU Medicine Children’s has provided pediatric specialty outreach clinics at SRMC for several years.
In October, SRMC kicked off a fundraising campaign to help establish long-term financial stability for the hospital. At that time, the WVU Health System pledged $1 million to assist SRMC. The WVU Health System has pledged an addition $1 million to assist SRMC when it receives its designation as a critical access hospital.
Summersville Mayor Robert Shafer and Stephen Boone, SRMC Board chairman, said that with each step, the WVU Health System has proven its dedication to the people of Nicholas County and the surrounding region.
“When we needed a partner to ensure that healthcare would continue to be available to the residents of Summersville, the WVU Health System stepped up with both the management agreement and the $1 million pledge. This CON application is another example of the System’s commitment to the people of Nicholas County, and we are grateful for it,” Shafer said. “We look forward to long partnership with the WVU Health 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 Jackson General Hospital in Ripley, 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.