Jackson General Hospital, WVU Health System for new hospital wing ceremony | News, sports, jobs

From left, Rob Fisher, Steve Westfall, Stephanie McCoy, Carl Overmiller, MD, and Albert L. Wright Jr. break ground Friday on a new hospital wing at Jackson General Hospital in Ripley. (Photo by James Dobbs)

RIPLEY – Elected officials, local residents and hospital staff gathered at Jackson County Jackson General Hospital on Friday for a groundbreaking ceremony for a new hospital wing.

“This construction project has been in the works for the past several years and today is truly a historic event.” said Stephanie McCoy, president and CEO of WVU Medicine JGH.

McCoy said Friday how proud they were to share their vision for modern healthcare. Without the forward-thinking, selfless determination and dogged persistence of JGH’s Board of Directors and JGH’s leadership and care team, the vision would not have been realized, she said.

“In 2018, we embarked on a journey to join the West Virginia University Health System, and since then we’ve been on a great journey to not only be a great place to care for in a world-class healthcare network, but a great place to work.” She said. “We have joined forces with a common partner who shares our vision for excellence in patient care, our desire to be a healthcare provider for our community, and our vision to modernize our hospital.”

McCoy said the first floor of the new wing is designed to include a new emergency room with 14 private rooms, including two triage rooms, two trauma rooms, a cleaning room and a mental health room. It also includes a new 12-bay operating room, two large operating rooms and two procedure rooms. The second floor has inpatient/swing-beds and has 18 private rooms with private bathrooms, a three-chair seating area and a rehabilitation room.

Stephanie McCoy, president and CEO of WVU Medicine Jackson General Hospital, spoke Friday during a groundbreaking ceremony outside JGH in Ripley. (Photo by James Dobbs)

Rob Fisher, chairman of the JGH board of directors, has served on the board for more than 30 years and has been chairman for the past eight. Fisher said the JGH board came up with a 50-year plan to continue caring for its patients and the community. The board’s plan was to have a steady flow of suppliers, ensure financial stability and solve the problem “shoot” Hospital. Fisher said the plan led to a merger with WVU Medicine.

“We’re going to put some shovels in the ground today and start installing this new $30 million wing.” he said. “This is a really big deal for Jackson County. This will ensure the existence of the hospital in 50 years.

Carl Overmiller, MD, JGH medical staff, has been working at the hospital since 2010. Medical students are now video conferencing with the WVU Department of Surgery to observe death, illness and their grand rounds. They said their computer system has been upgraded, providing access to more medical information, access to specialists and telemedicine, among other improvements.

WVU Health System President and CEO Albert L. Wright Jr. has worked with WVU Medicine since August 2014. Transforming that academic medical center into an academic health system.

“So what we’ve been doing over the last eight years, intentionally, strategically, is partnering with community hospitals around the region to create a public health footprint that allows us to simultaneously stabilize health care and local communities and hopefully improve health care in those communities. Build local communities and that network — So at any WVU medicine, physician clinic, urgent care, small hospital, medium hospital, large hospital, your records, your labs, your prescriptions, your pictures, your doctor’s progress notes, they all follow you. It’s you everywhere you go.” he said. “We’ve got better care, we’ve got more integrated care, we’ve got more efficient care.”

Carl Overmiller, MD, a member of the medical staff at WVU Medicine Jackson General Hospital, explained what the merger has done for JGH at the event in Jackson County. (Photo by James Dobbs)

The $30 million project will be financed through a combination of cash reserves and bond financing, according to a WVU Medicine press release. Construction will take 16-20 months but will depend on materials/labor.

James Dobbs can be reached at jdobbs@newsandsentinel.com.

Rob Fisher, chair of the WVU Medicine Jackson General Hospital Board of Directors, shared a story about the power of three and how it relates to the three goals the board created for its 50-year plan. (Photo by James Dobbs)

Steve Westfall, West Virginia state representative, speaks during the groundbreaking outside Jackson General Hospital in Ripley. (Photo by James Dobbs)

Attendees applaud during a groundbreaking ceremony outside Jackson General Hospital in Jackson County on Friday. (Photo by James Dobbs)