Those turning dirt with ceremonial shovels included officials with WVU Medicine, medical staff, and a pediatric cancer patient
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — WVU Medicine officials broke ground on a $200 million patient tower project September 17th.
The project actually started across the street with 450 new parking spaces, according to WVU Health System President and CEO Albert Wright.
“We
nd strategically connect so that we can move everything into the new tower, go back and take some of the old spaces to make them private rooms. And when we’re all set up, we’ll have about a 320 bed, all single private room facility, which will be the second largest hospital in the WVU health system.”
Construction is set to occur in phases, with the work on the parking addition beginning this fall. The patient tower could open in early 2028.
Berkeley County Commission President Eddie Gochenour expressed appreciation for the investment as he looked addressed his neighbors.
“I look across the road. That was an apple orchard. And all of the good things that have taken place across that road, all the lives that have been changed, the lives that have been saved,” He said.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity. And for the investment of West Virginia University to come here and invest again and much larger than in the past, it’s tremendous. And it did my heart really good when I was reading and I saw where there’s going to be a Pediatric Cancer Center here and that’s wonderful.”
“It’s wonderful, it’s wonderful,” Gochenour told those assembled at the ground breaking, “So. On behalf of the Berkeley County Commission, you know, we’re constantly struggling with infrastructure, with water, sewer, roads, all these all these things because of our growth. We won’t have to be worried about our health care. Our health care is investing here. It’s a great place to invest and it’s another great day to be a Mountaineer.”
Mark O’Hern, the CEO of WVU Hospitals East, told those attending the ceremony that the expansion is patient-focused. “Today, we’re not just turning soil, we’re turning the page in our shared story. This tower represents a bold, visionary step forward in our mission to deliver compassionate, innovative care to every neighbor at every stage of life.”
He said pediatric oncology will be offered beginning this month in Martinsburg and will have a dedicated space in the new tower.
O’Hern introduced Micah, a local youngster whose cancer is in remission. Micah and his father Robert talked about the help they received through WVU Medicine Children’s in Morgantown and what a big help it will be to have some of those services close to home. “I’m glad they are building one that is closer,” Micah said.
CEO Wright said the project and another beginning late this fall or early next year at Jefferson Medical Center are part of a $260 million investment in an area of growth.
“We’ve got a number of big investments that we’ve been working on here in the Panhandle,” Wright said. “We recognize the growth of the population of the Panhandle. We recognize that is the academic health system of the land grant, University of State of West Virginia, our job is to take care of patients. So you got to go where patients are at. And so we’ve got big projects in Jefferson County that we’re going to kick off either later this year or early next year. We promised this bed tower and we’re here to deliver on that promise today.”
During his remarks just prior to the groundbreaking ceremony, Wright said in his office he has a map on which he has circled four areas around the state: Morgantown, Wheeling, Charleston, and Martinsburg. “Those are the sites that now we need to build up our breadth and depth of services the way we have in Morgantown. Because if we do that in those four sites, we actually cover the entire state.”
Albert Wright
The $60 million campus expansion at Jefferson Medical Center will create a three-story ambulatory building and advanced lab and imaging spaces as well as a new infusion and cancer suite among other improvements.
More information about the Eastern Panhandle building projects can be found at https://wvumedicine.org/berkeley/about-us/growth/
Among those on hand were a number of Eastern Panhandle legislators, representatives from the Berkeley County Commission, the City of Martinsburg, the Martinsburg/Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce and the Berkeley County Economic Development Authority.
A specially recognized group was a table of retired nurses, whom Board President Scott Roach recognized as second moms and ladies he had grown up knowing.
Follow the progress through a link from WVU Medicine here.
Mark O’Hern
