Story by Carrie Hodousek, WVMetroNews.com
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — WVU Medicine President Albert Wright says it will take some time to repair some damages at Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg caused by weekend flooding.
Wright toured the area of the hospital’s first floor expansion project Wednesday.
Albert Wright
“When I got there, it was worse than I expected,” Wright said on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.” “There’s a lot of damage to the walls and there’s a lot of damage to the surgical equipment that will have to be replaced.”
There were 10 operating rooms in the one-story wing of the hospital that received water damage.
“We’ve had to take the rooms down and we’re going to have some significant renovations,” Wright said. “We’ve contained that space now and are starting to demolish and replace, but it’s going to be a period of time.”
Video from WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center flooding last weekend. pic.twitter.com/KcyUWPZqCM
— Carrie Hodousek (@CarrieHodousek) May 30, 2024
Wright said there was a “construction mishap” that resulted in a perforation where outside rain made it into the building. The hospital system was in the middle of adding a second floor for laboratory space above the existing operating rooms when those first-floor rooms were flooded.
WVU is still investigating how and why the water was able to penetrate the structure.
The medical center is currently only accepting “trauma, obstetric, and other emergent surgical cases.” Elective surgeries are being rescheduled. Wright said they’re also sending surgical patients to nearby hospitals.
“Fortunately, we’ve got Jefferson Medical Center which is part of our health system not too far away. We’ve got a really great surgery center on the campus of Berkeley Medical Center that we’re able to reprioritize some of those operating rooms for more complex cases and then we’ll be working with community partners,” Wright said.
Wright said emergency situations will still be handled at Berkeley Medical Center.
“There are a couple of other operating spaces that we’ll use for emergency C-sections or emergency patients that come into the emergency department that need intervention,” he said.
