MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Wetzel County Hospital in New Martinsville 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 operate the hospital.
“We are happy to be partners with the WVU Health System,” Lawrence Lemon, president of the Wetzel County Commission, said. “We look forward to being part of a landmark event that will impact the citizens of our county for generations to come.”
Wetzel County Hospital entered into a management agreement with WVU Hospitals on Oct. 1, 2018. Prior to that, it had been a clinical affiliate of the WVU Health System since 2016. Under the terms of the management agreement, David Hess, M.D., became CEO of Wetzel County Hospital. He also serves as president and CEO of WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Glen Dale.
“The County Commissioners and the Hospital Trustees have supported and encouraged our partnership with the WVU Health System every step of the way, and for that, we thank them,” George Friedline, chair of the Wetzel County Hospital’s Board of Trustees, said. “To-date, our relationship with the WVU Health System has been a win for our County’s residents, and we expect even greater wins for them in the form of greater access to specialized care as we become a full member of the System.”
Established in 1920, Wetzel County Hospital is a 58-bed facility that employs 235 people. It offers a variety of inpatient and outpatient services, including cardiopulmonary, emergency, general surgery, radiology, and cardiac rehabilitation, physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
“We are excited to officially take the next step toward bringing Wetzel County Hospital into the WVU Medicine family,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System, said. “Everyone in Wetzel County – its residents, the County Commissioners, and the Hospital’s employees – has supported this relationship and grown it into what it is today. We’re appreciative of that support and look forward to growing and strengthening our partnership in the future.”
The West Virginia University Health System, the state’s largest health system and largest private employer, is comprised of 11 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; Jackson General Hospital in Ripley; Jefferson Medical Center in Ranson; Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser; Reynolds Memorial Hospital; St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon; Summersville Regional Medical Center in Summersville; and United Hospital Center in Bridgeport. It also provides management services to Barnesville Hospital in Barnesville, Ohio; Garrett Regional Medical Center in Oakland, Maryland; Harrison Community Hospital in Cadiz, Ohio; and Wheeling Hospital in Wheeling. 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.