CHARLESTON, W. Va.– West Virginia Health Right unveiled an expansion for its East End Clinic in Charleston Wednesday afternoon.
Health Right, which provides healthcare access for under protected people in the state, added a third story to its East End Clinic on Washington Street East, with an expansion to the on-site pharmacy, improved dental and vision clinics, as well as behavioral health services.
CEO of West Virginia Health Right, Dr. Angie Settle, said in a statement that the project has been several years in the making.
“This project is the culmination of five years of planning and fundraising, even though the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Settle said.
During the pandemic, Health Right served as the first free testing site in West Virginia and was able to administer nearly 100,000 tests.
The building expansion project took around $12 million to build, and according to the company’s board president, Ryan Lindsay, this is one of the biggest accomplishments for Health Right since he came to the company.
“We’ve done a lot in the eight years that I’ve been on the board,” Lindsay said at the ceremony Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve put together a mobile dental clinic, we’ve opened up the West Side clinic, which is a great endeavor of ours, but this is a really big one. I mean, this one right here opens the doors to everybody in Charleston and Kanawha County and the state of West Virginia.
Health Right has served over 40,000 patients over the last five years, despite the fact that, before the expansion, the original building on Washington Street East was built to serve roughly 15,000 people across that same timeframe.
Multiple partners of Health Right West Virginia came out this afternoon to show their support of the new building, including the Greater Kanawha County Foundation and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
Kanawha County Foundation President and CEO Michelle Foster, says her company has been in support of multiple projects Health Right has done over the years, and is excited for the future.
“We have supported the original Health Right site for a number of years, and we’ve also supported the dental bus that goes out into those rural counties to reach underserved populations, ” Foster said. “We’re big fans of Health Right, and we’re excited about this expansion that they’ve had.”
Gayle Manchin, ARC Federal Co-Chair and wife of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, said ARC helped out where they could in the process, but the success starts with the company in charge of the plans.
“ARC has really worked with Health Right over the years, so we’re just one small part of the project, but that’s usually the way ARC works,” Manchin said Wednesday. “We are a partner with others to make good things happens, but where the good things happen is really at the grassroots.”
Health Right will continue to provide healthcare to West Virginians with either no insurance or those who are underinsured, but with a far more extensive facility.