WHEELING, W.Va. — Doug Harrison, the CEO of Wheeling Hospital calls the management takeover by West Virginia University Health System a great expansion in the ability to serve citizens of the Upper Ohio Valley.
Harrison was part of the official formalization of the agreement between West Virginia University Health System, Wheeling Hospital, and the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston to make the hospital a full member of the WVU network that took place Wednesday. The parties announced in September 2020 that the hospital would join the health system.
Wheeling Hospital now joins an integrated network of a 22 member, managed, and affiliated hospitals by WVU Health System which operates under the brand WVU Medicine. Harrison said it is part of a hospital’s goal to give an increased level of clinical capabilities.
“We have to make sure we increase the level of clinical capabilities that we provide here in Wheeling so folks don’t have to travel or leave the market,” he told MetroNews.
The expansion of services includes a list of the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, WVU Medicine Children’s, and WVU Medicine Emergency Medicine who already operate programs at Wheeling Hospital. The WVU Heart and Vascular Institute opened a clinic at the hospital in late 2020. The WVU Cancer Institute is also actively working with Wheeling Hospital to open a clinic on its campus.
Harrison said the hospital has enjoyed access to physician recruitment through the management transition. Three neurosurgeons also work at the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute in Wheeling. The CEO also said there is more system integration on the horizon including IT platforms, electronic medical records and a Human Resources system.
Harrison said the major advantage of joining an integrated health system network is if a patient has to leave the area for care, it’s an easier transition.
“The team in Morgantown is very much aligned with what we’re doing in Wheeling. A lot of time it’s the same physicians that are practicing here that are practicing in Morgantown. You’d get that seamless transition of care,” he said.
Nearby Wetzel County Hospital, Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Glen Dale, Barnesville Hospital in Ohio and Harrison Community in Ohio are part of the WVU Medicine umbrella. The network includes more than 20,000 employees, 2,815 providers and more than 2.5 million patient visits annually.
The network of doctors, hospitals, clinics, and specialized institutes are across West Virginia, Southwestern Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and Ohio.
Wheeling Hospital has been operated by WVU Health System since June 2019 through a management services agreement with the diocese. Harrison joined as CEO at that time, following a 2018 federal Department of Justice lawsuit against Wheeling Hospital over alleged improper payments and kickbacks to physicians. The hospital reached a $50 million settlement in September 2020.
The closing on Wednesday included the transfer of ownership from the diocese to WVU Medicine except for the building and land. Those pieces of property will remain with the diocese under a long-term lease agreement.
Harrison is also part of a new community Board of Directors that will begin service in support of the hospital.
The board members include Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System; 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; and Thomas Wack, M.D., County Health Officer, Wheeling-Ohio County Board of Health.
“The prior board that was here served the hospital here for a long period of time. We felt it was time for a change and rebirth so to speak,” Harrison said.
“We set forth to put folks in place that we feel strongly represent the Upper Ohio Valley and be contributors to the ongoing success of WHeeling Hospital.”
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.