WHEELING, W.Va. — The acute and emergency medical services at Ohio Valley Medical Center in Ohio County will be open one final day on Wednesday.
OVMC in Wheeling, which is set to close in October, announced on Tuesday it would be the suspending the services at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday.
In part of a released statement Tuesday, OVMC CEO Daniel Dunmyer said: “Although we made every effort to interest WVU Medicine and Wheeling Hospital in taking over part of our downtown campus, they simply were not interested in our facilities that provide acute and emergency medical services.”
Alecto Healthcare Services, the owner of OVMC in Wheeling and partner Ohio Regional Hospital (EORH) in Martins Ferry, Ohio since June 2017, announced in early August they would close both facilities in 60 to 90 days. Alecto cited $37 million in losses over the past two years.
More than 1,000 jobs will be lost in the closing and thousands of patients searching for healthcare in the Ohio Valley.
Meetings have taken place between state and local officials in an attempt to save jobs and crucial services such as ER and mental health to avoid a ‘crisis.’