WVU Hospitals said Wednesday it received a Certificate of Need from the West Virginia Health Care Authority to move into a portion of the vacated Fairmont Regional Medical Center and to construct a 25-bed hospital next to its Urgent Care facility at the Gateway Connector.
The announcement of the two CONS for WVU Hospitals follows an announcement made Monday by Mon Health System that it received approval to construct a 10-bed, $20 million hospital in Fairmont. Marion County has been without a full-service hospital since March when Alecto Healthcare Services, the owner, closed the facility after it could not find a buyer.
The new WVU Hospitals’ medical center will be called Fairmont Gateway Center and include primary care services, as well as obstetrics and gynecology, behavioral medicine, cardiology, digestive diseases, nephrology, orthopedics, podiatry, pulmonary medicine, sleep disorders, surgery and urology and urgent care.
WVU Hospitals announced the two projects at a press conference March 13 that was attended by Gov. Jim Justice and WVU President Gordon Gee.
The $35.3 million Fairmont Gateway Center is projected to be open by mid-2022. WVU Hospitals said the facility will be the first phase of its new development at Fairmont Gateway Connector.
“We are grateful for the West Virginia Health Care Authority’s approval of our plans and we are excited to ensure that the residents of Marion County continue to have access to emergency department and inpatient services close to home,” Albert Wright, president and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System, said in a statement. “We appreciate the excitement and anticipation the community has already shown for these projects and we look forward to seeing them come to fruition.”
The former Fairmont Regional, which will now be called Fairmont Medical Center and will be operated as an arm of J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, WVU Medicine’s primary hospital. Fairmont Medical will be staffed by health care providers from Ruby.
TWEET @41Suzanne
