Business

Memorial Health System holds ceremony for final beam at new Sistersville General Hospital

SISTERSVILLE - Hospital officials, community members, state and local leaders, and representatives of Memorial Health System and the Memorial Health Foundation gathered at the construction site of the new Sistersville General Hospital on Friday for a signing and dedication ceremony of the final steel beam prior to it being raised into place.

"We are still on track for an end-of-2027 opening as planned, we'll see how the winter goes," said Jarrett S. Stull, executive director of the Memorial Health Foundation. "We are hearing great things from the community. Our staff is super excited about having this modern facility here. We see this building that's being built. It’s going to be here for another 100 years serving this community. That's what's important to Memorial Health System, that we are bringing this into the community so people don't have to travel for health care.

"When we started this project, we were going to plan for an eight-bed unit," he said. "Because of the excitement and our fundraising, we are now planning on a 16-bed hospital, also because the need is there."

Over 100 people showed up for the ceremony.

When completed, the new facility will be a 30,000-square-foot hospital that will bring expanded services and modern equipment to rural West Virginia, officials said. The hospital will have an expanded laboratory to support local clinics with faster, more accurate testing, along with 16 inpatient beds.

The facility will offer advanced tools to better diagnose and monitor chronic conditions, plus new procedure areas for gastroenterology and interventional pain care.

Scott Cantley, president and CEO of Memorial Health System, had this to say: "The old hospital has served the community for 117 years, and that's not by accident, it’s from a lot of people who really cared, and they try to make their community better every day.

"About a year from now, we'll actually be giving tours and walking through and it will be super exciting," he said. "This is about a $40 million investment that our health system is making to bring this new facility ... to the community. We've expanded from when we originally started because we're more optimistic today than when we first designed this building.

"I am looking forward to this, but more than anything else, I am looking forward to great health care, and making people's lives better," he added.

David and Jan Kelly, the couple put in charge of fundraising for the new hospital, received recognition for their work. David said over $14 million has been raised so far and the effort is ongoing. He spoke about what the hospital means to a community like Sistersville and praised the generosity of all those who have donated and pledged to help make the hospital a reality.

"I can't even imagine what we're going to see when the doors swing wide open over there, in a little over a year. It's a privilege to stand before everyone today alongside Jan as co-chairmen of the promise campaign," Kelly said. "When we talk about the campaign, we talk about the promise to the people of this region. They made that promise. A promise that no matter where you live, it should never lessen the importance of your healthcare. Today we see that promise taking shape."

Kelly said the steel beam being signed provides strength and support for the building, but the real strength comes from the support of the people.

Sistersville Mayor Bill Rice spoke about the hard times the city has had in the past trying financially to keep the Sistersville hospital open. He told of his years serving the community on council and as mayor and the struggles they have gone through as a small community that could barely make the payroll at the hospital. When it finally became a reality that Memorial Health System was going to build a new hospital, all the problems they went through in the past became well worth it, he said. He said there were times when he wanted to just give up, but he's now glad they kept it running and he's excited to see it open in a year or so.

The official signing of the beam gave supporters of the hospital an opportunity to add their signatures to a small portion of the building framework, marking a significant step forward in the construction.

Among those present for the signing were Dr. Dan Breece, vice president of physician services and chief medical officer; Jody Bullman, president of Shelby General Hospital and Sistersville General Hospital; Jaon Suter, Sistersville General Hospital administrator; Telah Taylor, vice president of clinical quality and medical staff services; and Mark Sarver, executive director of the West Virginia Development Authority.