WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia University Health System, Wheeling Hospital, and the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston formalized their agreement to make Wheeling Hospital a full member of the WVU Health System on Wednesday.
Wheeling Hospital has been operated by WVU Health System since June 2019 through a management services agreement with the diocese. Both parties announced in September 2020 that the hospital would join the health system.
“This marks an important moment and milestone for Wheeling Hospital, the Diocese, and WVU Medicine,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System said in a release.
“I am grateful to Bishop Mark Brennan for the trust he has put in us. Our commitment to the people of Wheeling and the surrounding area is to ensure this hospital remains an integral part of the community while remaining true to its core mission, values, and Catholic beliefs. We are excited to have the hospital join our Health System, and we will work hard to ensure it thrives as part of it.”
The WVU Health System operates under the brand ‘WVU Medicine,’ and has more than 20,000 employees, 2,815 providers, 22 member, managed, and affiliate hospitals, and more than 2.5 million patient visits annually. Wheeling Hospital will be part of a broad, integrated network of doctors, hospitals, clinics, and specialized institutes across West Virginia, Southwestern Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and Ohio, a release said.
Officials said there is a new community Board of Directors that will begin service in support of the hospital. The board members include Wright; Bernard Twigg (Board Chair), Community Leader; Most Rev. Mark E. Brennan, Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston; Mark Benson, M.D., President, Wheeling Hospital Medical Executive Committee; Todd Clossin, President and CEO, WesBanco; Glenn F. Elliott, Jr., Mayor, City of Wheeling; Kenneth Mason, Community Leader; The Honorable Don Nickerson, Ohio County Commissioner; Don Rigby, Community Leader; Jessica Rine, Executive Director, United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley; Thomas Wack, M.D., County Health Officer, Wheeling-Ohio County Board of Health; and Douglass Harrison, CEO, Wheeling Hospital.
“I’m excited about our new board and the energy its members will bring as we chart a fresh and electrifying course for the Hospital, one that will lead to new programs, new investments, and new growth. We want to get the community jazzed about our Hospital and the future we plan for it,” Harrison said in a statement.
Wheeling Hospital will host an invitation-only event, which will also include medical staff and employees, to celebrate the occasion at 1 p.m. on Friday, April 9.