The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department is expected to begin seeing patients for clinical services at its new location at St. Joseph’s Landing after the first of the new year. (File Photo)

PARKERSBURG — The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department is expected to begin seeing patients for clinical services at its new location at St. Joseph’s Landing after the first of the new year.

The MOVHD has been in the process of moving its operations to the new location after the Wood County Commission made an agreement in late summer to lease around 32,400-square-feet at the facility.

Director of Community Health Malcolm Lanham said the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program was able to move into the facility in the fall. They moved into a space where PARS had set up operations for a couple of years so there were exam rooms in place and other things that didn’t have to be built to accommodate the health department.

“Our clinical department is starting to move over there now to St. Joseph’s,” Lanham said. “The next phase is to complete the move in of the clinical services. That will happen after the first of the year.

“They will start seeing patients there the first week of January.”

The MOVHD offices on Sixth Street were closed after Memorial Day in May when a break in a water line caused a lot of damage to the building at 211 Sixth St., a building that was built in 1908. Since that time, the health department’s operations have been conducted at different sites around town.

The Wood County Commission began looking for new locations that could house the health department after it was determined it would cost too much to repair the old building.

County officials toured other properties including office space at Campbell’s Plaza on Seventh Street, the former Lincoln School on 31st Street and at the Clean and Clear Advantage on Juliana Street (the old federal courthouse building).

St. Joseph’s Landing appeared the best of those considered for the purposes of the health department as well as having ample parking available and more, officials said.

The health department is planning to take over the former St. Joseph’s Hospital Emergency Department and the fourth floor in the medical office building on the grounds.

“The building itself it is taking awhile to get some things done, longer than we originally anticipated,” Lanham said. “Clinical is moving over there now. They will begin seeing patients in early January.”

The Finance, Community Health and Environmental Health sections are slated to move in at St. Joseph’s sometime after March 1, he said, adding the administrative section will move in sometime in April or May.

“We do not have a set timeline yet from that standpoint,” Lanham said. “I am hoping we get a better timeline set once we get back from the holidays.”

One of the things taking the most time is moving equipment and setting up technology infrastructure. The MOVHD is on a state network.

“One of the biggest challenges is getting the computer network moved over there and getting the cyber-security things into place,” Lanham said, adding they are awaiting their turn for those people to be able to come down and get those things set up.

Currently, the health department is working on getting its clinical services in place which will be in the space that use to house St. Joseph’s Hospital’s former emergency room space.

“That was the section that needed the most renovation work done,” Lanham said. “They got to the point where they could start seeing patients.”

The clinical services, threat preparedness, community health and dental are all moving into the old emergency room section.

“We are moving forward,” Lanham said. “It has not been going as fast as people had hoped.”

As of last week, the health department is no longer operating its exterior locations for clinical services at South Parkersburg Baptist Church. Lanham expected the new clinical section at St. Joseph’s to start seeing patients on Jan 2 or 3.

“We will no longer be at any of our remote locations and no one is at the old Sixth Street location,” he said.

Some people in the community are still not aware the Sixth Street building is closed and some people have been showing up there for appointments and other matters.

Work will be starting soon to get the health department’s exterior signage up at the side entrance marking the entrance for the health department.

“People will see that hopefully sometime in January or February,” Lanham said.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.