MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — WVU Medicine President Albert Wright says it will take some time to repair some damages at Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg caused by weekend flooding.
Wright toured the area of the hospital’s first floor expansion project Wednesday.
“When I got there, it was worse than I expected,” Wright said on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.” “There’s a lot of damage to the walls and there’s a lot of damage to the surgical equipment that will have to be replaced.”
There were 10 operating rooms in the one-story wing of the hospital that received water damage.
“We’ve had to take the rooms down and we’re going to have some significant renovations,” Wright said. “We’ve contained that space now and are starting to demolish and replace, but it’s going to be a period of time.”
Video from WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center flooding last weekend. pic.twitter.com/KcyUWPZqCM
— Carrie Hodousek (@CarrieHodousek) May 30, 2024
Wright said there was a “construction mishap” that resulted in a perforation where outside rain made it into the building. The hospital system was in the middle of adding a second floor for laboratory space above the existing operating rooms when those first-floor rooms were flooded.
WVU is still investigating how and why the water was able to penetrate the structure.
The medical center is currently only accepting “trauma, obstetric, and other emergent surgical cases.” Elective surgeries are being rescheduled. Wright said they’re also sending surgical patients to nearby hospitals.
“Fortunately, we’ve got Jefferson Medical Center which is part of our health system not too far away. We’ve got a really great surgery center on the campus of Berkeley Medical Center that we’re able to reprioritize some of those operating rooms for more complex cases and then we’ll be working with community partners,” Wright said.
Wright said emergency situations will still be handled at Berkeley Medical Center.
“There are a couple of other operating spaces that we’ll use for emergency C-sections or emergency patients that come into the emergency department that need intervention,” he said.
Jackson Medical Center expansion project
WVU Medicine plans to hold a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Thursday to open a new $35 million expansion at Jackson General Hospital in Ripley.
There will be a new Emergency Department with 14 private rooms, including two triage rooms, two trauma rooms, a decontamination room, and mental health rooms on the first floor. There will also be a new Surgical Department with large operating suites, procedure rooms and robotic surgery technology.
On the second floor of the expansion, there will be an inpatient/swing-bed unit with 18 private rooms, a three-chair patient infusion area, and a rehabilitation room. Four of the inpatient rooms will have capabilities to be converted into critical care rooms, according to a press release from WVU Medicine.
Wright said the expansion has a lot to offer.
JGH broke ground on the expansion project in Aug. 2022. The new wing will be operational beginning June 5.
Ribbon cutting at outpatient rehab center
The ribbon was also cut for the new WVU Medicine Outpatient Rehabilitation Center at the University Town Center in Morgantown Thursday.
Wright said the $30 million, two-story structure has a total of 60,000 square feet, with half of that occupied by the center on the first level. The second floor will be home to a yet-to-be-determined clinical service.
“Physician clinics, sports medicine, physical occupational rehab therapy, speech therapy—we have the big hot tub pool for water therapy and the full gym,” Wright said.
Wright said putting these services together is a big step forward in terms of convenience for the patient.
“We’ve always had a lot of these great services, but putting them together in one complex and one place makes it a fun day to cut the ribbon on this one,” Wright said.
A lot of work went into the interior to chronicle the history WVU Medicine has using their expertise to help WVU athletic teams play to the best of their ability.
“They’ve got pictures of many historically great WVU athletes, and the theme is that the same doctors that are taking care of the Mountaineers are taking care of you,” Wright said.
Interest in the facility is running high, and available appointments are already filling up, according to Wright, who expects that trend to continue upward.
“More and more folks need rehab as we recover from more complex surgeries, and when patients live longer, more people need rehab,” Wright said.