WVU "Very Close" to Announcing Solution to Northern Panhandle Hospital Closures

Representatives from WVU and WVU Medicine say they are “very close” to announcing a solution to some of the job and health care losses projected in the northern panhandle after two hospitals announced they were closing earlier this month.

In an interview with WV Metro News Thursday, WVU President Gordon Gee said there are plans to expand on what WVU Medicine is already doing in the northern panhandle.

Gee said they are especially concerned about keeping adult and child psychiatric services in the panhandle and that they hope to open up two smaller health facilities – one in Wheeling and one outside of the city in another part of the community.

Those new facilities should absorb some of the jobs lost from the two hospital closures. Additionally, Wheeling Hospital, which is under a management agreement with WVU Medicine, currently has about 350 vacancies. The hospital is in the process of interviewing and hiring for those positions.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from Marshall Health and Charleston Area Medical Center.