MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU Hospitals (WVUH) has filed a letter of intent to file a Certificate of Need (CON) application with the West Virginia Health Care Authority to add 32 beds to Fairmont Medical Center, bringing the total inpatient beds to 42.
WVUH opened the emergency department and 10 inpatient beds at Fairmont Medical Center, a campus of WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, on June 30. At that time, the immediate needs were to ensure continued access to healthcare in Marion County and availability of beds for COVID patients in the event of a surge of patients in the state.
“Now that the Fairmont operations have stabilized, we have a better understanding of how the Fairmont campus can best serve the needs of the region. We believe that increasing the number of inpatient beds available at Fairmont Medical Center will allow us to best utilize providers to care for higher acuity patients in Fairmont and maximize efficiencies on the campus” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System, said. “As an added benefit for the region, we anticipate that the increase in beds could add more than 100 new jobs in the area.”
The proposed project includes renovating two additional inpatient units at the hospital.
WVUH anticipates filing the CON application next week and, if approved, will immediately begin the work necessary to increase capacity at Fairmont Medical Center.
For more information on Fairmont Medical Center, visit WVUMedicine.org/Fairmont-Medical-Center.