WHEELING, W.Va. — WVU Medicine President and CEO Albert Wright says the Ohio Valley will soon benefit from a new regional cancer center at the former site of a downtown Wheeling hospital.
The WVU Health System and the West Virginia Cancer Institute plan to build the center at the former Ohio Valley Medical Center in Center which closed a few years ago. The City of Wheeling currently owns the property.
Wright said Friday’s announcement has restored hope in the community.
“In a vibrant downtown, it’s good to have positive distractions as folks go down there for treatment and maybe stay to eat or shop, so I think this is a win-win,” Wright said on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
The cancer center will make it easier for patients to get the care they need and will spur economic development in the City of Wheeling, Wright said.
“If you go into downtown Wheeling, they’re doing a wonderful job up there. It is lively, there’s a lot of businesses, they’re putting housing downtown and we want to be apart of that,” he said.
The city purchased the OVMC property, which includes seven buildings, in June 2020 after Alecto Healthcare announced plans to close the hospital in Aug. 2019.
Closing the hospital resulted in hundreds of job losses. Wright said the building itself is an eye sore.
“The building is really bad, so it needs to come down. I think that will allow some closure there and build a new building that’s something the community can be proud of for the next 50 years,” he said.
Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron previously called the project “transformational” for the region. City leaders said the project will will improve healthcare in the area and bring jobs back.
Wright said they wanted to make sure they had their ducks in a row before making the announcement.
“We’ve been quietly working with the city and the county and the economic development authority up there over the last couple years and came up with a good plan to relocate all of our cancer services into one comprehensive center that will support downtown Wheeling,” he said.
Cancer patients are currently seeking services at Reynolds Memorial Hospital and Wheeling Hospital.
The project, once completed, will house about 150 workers. WVU Medicine expects about 40,000 patient visits a year. It could take five years to finish the work.
Both the City of Wheeling and Ohio County will fund the majority of the former hospital’s demolition.
The Ohio County Commission is also part of the partnership.