SISTERSVILLE — Sistersville General Hospital is now part of Memorial Health System in Marietta which will go into effect Oct. 1, according to a press release from Memorial Health System.

The official merger is the result of a due-diligence period which began Spring of 2020, the release said.

Sistersville General, the third hospital to join Memorial Health System, will keep its name and will be represented on the Memorial Health System board of directors.

Sistersville Mayor Bill Rice said this merger is a relief to him and to the people of the town.

“It really takes a load off my mind. For about three years now, the hospital has been working on this really hard. The hospital board is the one that deserves all the credit for this,” he said.

Some of the other deals in question involved the hospital becoming a clinic but Rice is thankful that didn’t happen.

“The other night, the (Memorial Health System) CEO was up there and it really made me feel better, he talked about the hospital running for decades. This was kind of like a dream come true for me. It looks like we’re going to keep our hospital,” Rice said.

In 2013, Rice was in a severe car accident which almost caused him to lose a leg. When the accident occurred, it took about 25 minutes for someone to get to him. He said that caused him to try and push to keep the hospital open.

“We wanted to keep our hospitals close. Ambulances can go to Sistersville instead of Wetzel County until they’re stabilized,” Rice said. “This is a really big deal. We’ve got close to 150 employees (and) were worried to death about them. I slept better the other night after that meeting. I can’t wait to see what this venture is going to bring.”

Scott Cantley, president and CEO of Memorial Health System, said although the changes won’t begin until October, the public will be able to see changes in signage over the next few months.

“We’ll continue to invest in enhanced care, services and facilities to ensure local access to quality care. We recognize the importance of maintaining an acute care hospital in Sistersville (including current employment as it stands today),” Cantley said.

Chief Executive Officer for Sistersville General, Brandon Chadock, said the hospital looks forward to this transition to be able to offer high quality care to the community.

“This move enables us to leverage Memorial Health System’s innovation and clinical expertise, advance quality initiatives and continue our long-standing commitment to provide superior, compassionate care to patients throughout our service region,” Chadock said.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.