BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — United Hospital Center held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday to celebrate the opening of the new ENT/Audiology and Gastroenterology practices.
“We’re going from 9,200 square feet up to about 19,000 square feet,” said John Forester, Senior Vice President and COO of WVU Medicine Community Physicians.
When the offices open up to patients on Monday, they will have access to the same physician services, but on a larger scale.
“We’ll be able to have more providers, which will also help to improve the wait times that patients can experience when getting into our practices,” Forester said.
One of those providers will be joining the Gastroenterology team in the summer of 2016, bringing the total staff in that practice up to five.
A gastroenterologist will continue to treat gastro esophageal reflux disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s Disease, irritable bowel syndrome, liver disease, pancreatis, biliary tract disease, peptic ulcer, diverticulitis and malabsorption.
ENT/Audiology will provide treatment for diseases such as sinusitis, environmental allergies, hearing loss and change in voice.
“There’s a huge demand for our services in the area and we’ve been landlocked, so to speak, with our space,” Forester said.
The project took around three years from design to completion with the Orthopedic and Spine practices needing to move to their new building.
While another expansion is not in the immediate future, the space is designed to handle future growth.
“I hope down the road that we may look at this space and say we could put something else in here and expand and grow someplace else but that hasn’t crossed our minds yet,” Forester said.
More on the ENT/Audiology and gastroenterology practices at UHC can be found at the hospital’s website.