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Camden Clark Medical Center breaks ground on new building

Photo by Brett Dunlap Albert Wright, president and chief executive officer of WVU Medicine; Karen Bowling, interim chief executive officer for the Camden Clark Medical Center; Dr. David Gnegy, cardiologist with Parkersburg Cardiology Associates; and Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce officially break ground for the cardiac services building at the Camden Clark Medical Center Thursday.

PARKERSBURG — Cardiac services at Camden Clark Medical Center will have a new home as work is underway on a cardiac services building.

Over 100 people, including hospital officials, elected officials and community leaders, gathered Thursday for the official groundbreaking to commemorate the construction of the building on the campus of the WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center.

“It really shows the energy and commitment around this project,” said Karen Bowling, interim chief executive officer for the Camden Clark Medical Center. “We are here because we are creating the newest state-of-the-art medical office building.”

The two-story 27,630-square-foot building will be a partnership among Camden Clark, Parkersburg Cardiology Associates and the WVU Heart & Vascular Institute. The medical office building will house the hospital’s cardiovascular services and Parkersburg Cardiology Associates under one roof.

The building has been in the works for a few years, Bowling said.

Photo by Brett Dunlap Karen Bowling, interim chief executive officer for the Camden Clark Medical Center, greets over 100 people who gathered at the medical center Thursday for the official groundbreaking to commemorate the construction of the cardiac services building.

“It didn’t really come into focus until we really worked on and solidified our partnership with WVU Heart & Vascular Institute,” she said. “Working together to provide state-of-the-art facilities, we do this as a team together. We will have a great building.”

The building will consist of the cardiology suite on the first floor with 25 exam rooms and support spaces, offices for 10 physicians and five to six nurse practitioners, a congestive heart failure clinic, lab, business operations, conference room, reception and large waiting area with restrooms and vending.

The second floor will consist of a large area for cardiac rehabilitation, an outpatient testing suite that will offer and include stress testing, nuclear cameras, echocardiograms, vascular ultrasounds, EECP, a pacemaker and device clinic along with reception and waiting areas.

“In this building people will have all kinds of different opportunities to receive services,” Bowling said. “This will be a one-stop-shop (for cardiac care). We will be able to provide services to this community in a convenient manner.”

The building represents an investment of around $9 million and is expected to be open in spring 2019, said John Vickers, CEO at Parkersburg Cardiology Associates.

Photo by Brett Dunlap Dr. David Gnegy, cardiologist with Parkersburg Cardiology Associates, spoke of what they hope will be accomplished at the new cardiac services building during a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday.

“A lot will depend on the weather this winter,” he said of construction.

Albert Wright, president and chief executive officer of WVU Medicine, said it was a special day for WVU Medicine and the Parkersburg community.

“This is a very exciting project,” he said.

WVU Medicine has had a great reputation statewide for the last few years as the academic medical center for the state, officials said.

Wright said Gordon Gee, president of WVU and chairman of the Board of Directors for WVU Medicine, challenged them to be an exceptional health care system that provides excellent services for the people of this state so they don’t have to leave West Virginia to get the care they need.

Photo by Brett Dunlap Albert Wright, president and chief executive officer of WVU Medicine, talks about WVU Medicine being able to provide cutting edge services for the state so residents would not have to go out of state for their medical care, during the groundbreaking Thursday of the cardiac services building at Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg.

They want to embrace subspecialization with a focus on cancer treatment, neural sciences, heart and vascular and a new children’s hospital in Morgantown, Wright said.

“We found that when you put great people, great programs and a great physical plant together, you can do great things,” Wright said. “That is a formula we not only want to replicate in Morgantown but around the state.

“That is what we are doing here with this building. We want Camden Clark to feel like a true branch of the academic medical center for the land grant university of the state of West Virginia.”

Dr. David Gnegy, board-certified cardiologist with Parkersburg Cardiology Associates, said the path to this point began 45 years ago when Dr. Mike Santer came back to Parkersburg to practice cardiology which led to the formation of Parkersburg Cardiology Associates. Over the years the community saw the first cardiac care unit in the state of West Virginia; a cath lab formed locally; additional services came to the area like nuclear stress testing and pacemaker placements, an open-heart surgery program and the merger of the area hospitals that brought all of the services together on one campus.

“With that came the ability to do lifesaving coronary angioplasty,” Gnegy said. “We are able to provide comprehensive care and we were able to save lives. That is a wonderful thing.”

Dr. Brian Bush, a member of the WVU Heart & Vascular Institute, is now providing open-heart surgery at Camden Clark.

“The next step in this journey is the construction of this building which will bring us all together under one roof,” Gnegy said. “We will be able to house all of the outpatient echo, stress testing, cardiac rehab, the pacer clinic and all the PCA offices, all under one roof.

“PCA and Camden Clark provide comprehensive and state-of-the art cardiac care for the Mid-Ohio Valley,” Gnegy said. “This addition will enhance our ability to do so.”

Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce, who used to be the safety officer at Camden Clark, said it was important for the community to get behind and support what is happening at Camden Clark Medical Center.

“As long as I am mayor of Parkersburg we will always be a partner and support Camden Clark and WVU Medicine in any way we possibly can,” he said.

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