MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The first phase of the West Virginia University School of Dentistry capital improvements supported by congressionally directed spending is now open to the public.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito was on hand along with School of Dentistry Dean Dr. Stephen Pachuta, WVU School of Medicine Dean Dr. Clay Marsh, and WVU President Michael Benson for a ribbon-cutting ceremony inside the facilities inside of the WVU Health Sciences Campus in Evansdale.
Capito, along with around 100 other guests, took part in a tour of the new clinical space that was paid for through approximately $12.6 million in federal funds.
“It needs a modernization, it’s needed, not just for the looks of it, but I think from the tenor and the tone that the dean brought to me, basically, it said, ‘You know, this is going to be transformational for the dental school,'” Capito said. “That hasn’t really transformed much since the (19)50s.”
The first phase of improvements that were showcased as part of the tour included four new clinics that will be located near the front of the back entrance of the WVU Health Sciences campus. This includes clinics focused on orthodontic dentistry and pediatric dentistry as well as group practice and innovative dentistry that will all be within walking distance of the over dozen various departments located on campus.
“Phase one was the orthodontic clinic, the pediatric dentistry clinic, the dental innovation center, and our dental group practice, and we were able to transition four of those back to the health sciences,” Pachuta said. “And it really changes that educational dynamic.”
Capito stated that the need for the WVU School of Dentistry to have updated facilities was prompted not just by WVU officials, but also through statistics that reflect the need for such medical care within the Mountain State. This included quotas that showed that around 48 such providers are available per 100,000 state residents.
“I really put my foot on the scale because I think this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me (to help this state) for something that is so specialized and that is so very important,” Capito said.
With the new location for the renovated clinics, the hope is that collaborations between clinicians will increase due to the proximity of numerous institutes on site at the WVU Health Sciences campus. The relocated clinics are within walking distance of the WVU Cancer Institute as well as J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital and the Golisano Children’s Hospital.
“We have educational sessions and programs that really do rely on having all of our health science students here at once,” Marsh said. “So, it is really quite a dream to be able to do this.”
For WVU officials, the ribbon cutting for the first phase of the School of Dentistry is one of several capital improvement projects that are being seen within the confines of the WVU Health Sciences Center. This includes the ongoing construction of the new WVU Eye Institute as well as the second phase of the dentistry improvements that are scheduled to be completed by 2028. Added with new collaborations such as the one recently announced with Johns Hopkins, optimism is at a high.
“Daily we’re having an impact, our physicians, all the practitioners, on the health of West Virginians, and you see it in critical mass right here in Morgantown, but it’s throughout the state,” Benson said. “And I’m really proud of the work that we’re doing, and I think the future is even more exciting.”