And finally , we remodeled the old section to increase our room size to better care for the increase in volumes after the closing of local facilities .”
What has been the public ’ s response to the remodeled ER ? Decrease says the patients could not be more pleased .
“ Every day we have patients who say , ‘ Wow , this is so much larger and more modern than before ,’” she says . “ The patients comment often about our low wait times and friendly staff . We really strive to put the patient first , and the patients see that commitment with the renovations and additions .”
The WVU Medicine brand also brought with it the opportunity for Ohio Valley residents to receive world-class cancer care without having to travel out of the area . The service line expansion continued with women ’ s health , obstetrics ( OB ) and gynecology and orthopedics , just to name a few .
“ We started a WVU Medicine Cancer Institute on our campus to bring academic quality cancer care into our community to make it convenient and accessible to our residents ,” says Hess . “ We opened our OB unit and began delivering babies again , which the community has been wildly excited about . The number of deliveries we are performing has grown each year since our opening . We built a new cardiac catheterization and vascular lab , which has seen tremendous growth under the leadership of WVU Medicine Heart and Vascular Institute . We have built a bestin-the-region orthopedic surgery group with an exceptional chief of orthopedic surgery , Dr . Michael Myers . We have been able to recruit an outstanding urologist ; ear , nose and throat specialist ; numerous primary care physicians ; and an incredible group of emergency room physicians , as well as a general surgery group , anesthesiologists and cardiologists . When the community has needed us , we have been there and brought in exceptional physicians — as we know that health care revolves around having the best physicians .”
The future of health care in the Northern Panhandle is very promising with the growth of WVU Medicine . The high standards of quality and patient experience will be unified between WVU Medicine RMH , WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital , WVU Medicine Wetzel County Hospital , WVU Medicine Barnesville Hospital and WVU Medicine Harrison Community Hospital . All of the hospitals will share best practices to continuously push each other to be better . Most importantly , they will continue to put the patients first in all they do to ensure the best care is given in the most appropriate setting .
“ With the academic medical center , J . W . Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown , as our backstop , we will take a personal approach to treat patients in their own community , until they would need a tertiary care center for high-level medical care ,” says Hess . “ We look forward to continued growth and increased services to be offered to the residents of the Northern Panhandle and Ohio Valley . The network of hospitals that WVU Medicine has brought together in the Northern Panhandle is exceptional , and we are truly blessed to have the quality of physicians here in our own community .”
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