MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Vandalia Health Network’s Mon Health Medical Center will see several infrastructure improvements move forward with the help of federal funds.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito announced $5.5 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) has been allocated on a federal level to help support planned improvements. Capito made the announcement with local elected officials and representatives of the Morgantown Area Partnership Thursday in Morgantown.
“This is a nice $5.5 million dollar infusion of federal dollars, your tax dollars, coming back to you to help Mon (Health) to meet the demands of making sure this is a health center that meets the demands of the future,” Capito said.
Vandalia Health Senior Vice President Krystal Atkinson said the money will be used to support ongoing infrastructure upgrades to a facility that has several pieces of aging equipment that need to be addressed. This includes renovations to the roof and HVAC system as well as improvements to generators and boiler systems. Features that will be greatly needed to see the over 80-year-old facility remain serviceable to are residents.
“We’re super excited about this, and it’s such an opportunity for us to be able to focus on the needs of the facility,” Atkinson said. “This is an aging facility, but we want to make sure that the things that people don’t see are taken care of just as well as the things that people do see.”
According to Capito, the decision to allocate the Congressionally Directed Spending dollars stemmed from ongoing conversations between her office and Vandalia Health officials that occur on a regular basis. This included observations of the facilities inside of the Mon Health Medical Center as well as plans that were set in place by hospital administrators months ahead of making a request on a federal level. The constant communication and long-term planning allowed for Capito to make an easy decision to allocate the federal funds.
“We go out and visit all the time, we have staff that visits all the time if I can’t, and we find out what the needs are,” said Capito. “We have the ability to self-direct federal dollars, and I look at the projects, judge the viability, and this is a great project, something that will help a lot of people.”
Atkinson said the project is ready to go once they get the money.
“Our facilities guys have done their due diligence in aligning vendors, trying to get those times with them, so once we have those funds, we’ll be ready to go,” Atkinson said.