OAK HILL, W.Va. — A Fayette County hospital that has been around for almost 100 years will soon get a face-lift and an expansion.
Plateau Medical Center broke ground Monday on the $17 million project to remodel and expand the facility. It will mostly be funded by their parent company, Community Health Systems in Franklin, Tennessee.
Physician and Chief of Staff Dr. Scott Keffer said the expansion will greatly benefit the community.
“This is an amazing event. But more importantly it’s an amazing undertaking for this community and for this hospital. We have the opportunity to provide more care, and that’s going to be a big boom for the community.”
Plans call for two new operating rooms and a complete renovation of two existing operating rooms. A new 8 bay post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and 10 new bay prep/recovery suites will also be a part of the project.
The emergency department will be expanded to 10 bays with a new corridor connecting it with the imaging department. Also coming are an expanded waiting room, new restroom and updated entrance.
The outpatient waiting room and consultation room will also be expanded. Lounges for hospital staff, physicians and locker rooms will also help employees feel more comfortable at work.
“We can bring in more service lines, so we can bring in some more specialized services because we’ll have more (operating room) capacity,” said Keffer. “Certainly our medical treatment is dependent upon specialized care sometimes. To be able to keep more people in area, we won’t have to transfer as many people out and be able to bring in more elective procedures that’ll be a really big benefit. Save some travel time for our neighbors.”
More parking will be added as well as landscape improvements facing Main Street. Oak Hill City Manager Bill Hannabass is excited about the boost it will bring to a busy stretch of town.
“This is fantastic. This is a huge project being spent on Main Street Oak Hill. It’s a revitalization for Oak Hill. It’s going to keep a lot of very talented healthcare providers in Oak Hill serving residents of Oak Hill and the surrounding area. They’ve been here 100 years, it looks like they’re going to be here 100 more years.”
The medical center first opened on February 1, 1919 as Oak Hill Hospital. In 2017, 13,000 patients were treated in the facility’s emergency room alone. The renovations are expected to be complete in 2019 in time for the hospital’s 100th anniversary.
Hannabass added the City of Oak Hill has always had a strong relationship with Plateau Medical Center.
“We’re extremely proud of that. It’s growth in a very positive way. It’s growth in a way that gives all of us service and the City of Oak Hill is proud to provide the infrastructure and services to support a facility like this.”
A re-brand of the hospital to “Plateau Health”, encompassing the 8 clinics and physicians’ offices the medical center owns throughout Fayette and Raleigh Counties.