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GLEN DALE -- Since WVU Medicine acquired Reynolds Memorial Hospital 10 years ago, the number of employees working there has more than doubled and the annual wages have more than tripled.That and more was celebrated during the 10th anniversary celebration of the partnership held Friday at facility in Glen Dale.
The gathering included speeches, food and live music by members of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. The celebration took place outside under large white tents erected next to the hospital's new Surgical Center entrance.Tony Martinelli, president and CEO of WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital, said 2016 is when Reynolds Memorial was facing challenges and looking for a partner."It's a story of a growing health system looking for ways to take the specialists and specialty care they offered in (J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital) and push it out into communities," he said. "So, those two organizations came together and 10 years ago next week there was ceremony just over my right shoulder here where we raised the flag and WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital came to be."Since then, the number of employees increased from 386 to 789, he noted."Even better than that, annual wages went from $21 million to $75 million, more than tripling," Martinelli said. "For our building, it meant more than $75 million in capital investments into the building that looks totally different than it did 10 years ago."
Regarding specialists, the hospital has partnerships with the Cancer Institute, the Neurosciences Institute, and the Heart and Vascular Institute, he added.Martinelli said WVU Medicine is not finished growing in the region. For example, it will be part of John Marshall High School's new natatorium being constructed beside the school. A new community hospital is being built in St. Clairsville. New Rapid Cares will be opening in Woodsfield and Sistersville. Work to construct the new regional cancer center is underway in Center Wheeling and the new pediatric center is being constructed on the WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital campus."WVU Medicine up and down the river remains committed to its vision of providing world-class care right here in our community," he said.Martinelli thanked everyone who worked to make the Reynolds partnership and other projects happen, including current hospital board members. He also thanked Dr. David Hess, former CEO of Reynolds, and former Reynolds board chairman Bernie Twigg."Their vision is the reason we are here today," Martinelli noted.
He also thanked Albert Wright, president and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System.Martinelli said he wanted to save his "largest thank you" to the hospital staff."Thank you for caring a whole awful lot and making this a better place," he said.Josh Jefferson, chairman of the board at WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital, also thanked Twigg and Rudy Zatezalo, a current board member and the long-serving board member.Jefferson noted Reynolds is where he's had some of his happiest and saddest days. His grandfather passed away there."I was there and it was incredibly hard," Jefferson said. "But for those of you who helped us, you got us through those difficult times. ... It was this community; it was the medical community. A hospital is a key fabric to any community."We cherish what everyone here has done and continues to do. You do it seven days a week, 24 hours a day, day and night. And we really appreciate that."Wright said WVU Medicine partnering with Reynolds was key to its mission of improving the state's health and expanding Ruby Memorial Hospital's services and outreach."We had to meet patients where they were at to connect with them," Wright said. "We knew we were going to do that with our electronic records. ... So anywhere you go, your images, your labs, your prescriptions ... follow you. And you need to have strong hospitals in your communities and you need to have specialists."WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital, he said, is the "pride of the community.""It really warms my heart to see the growth and success we've had here," Wright said. "It's served as a blueprint and a confidence-building for myself, our leadership and our board of directors to go out and do this in other places around the state."Wright said during the last 12 years, WVU Medicine has grown to become a "top-quartile academic health system.""We're providing access to care for patients and populations better than we have had in the state of West Virginia," he said. "We're very proud of that. That's great, but we're not done."WVU Medicine needs to start offering more preventative and wellness care to help residents of the state and beyond, he said."We're a top-quartile academic health system, but unfortunately the people who live in the state of West Virginia -- and they are among some of the most wonderful people you're ever going to meet -- do not have top-quartile outcomes," Wright said. "When you look at most of our health care metrics, whether it be heart disease, diabetes, drug addiction, obesity, sense of purpose, we're probably more in the bottom quartile. So, we have to fix that."Part of the solution, he noted, is WVU Medicine's Peak Health, which is a provider-led health insurance company that it co-owns.Wright added that he wanted to thank the employees and board members for their efforts during the past 10 years."I want to thank all of you for the great work you are doing. I want to thank Tony and Josh and the board of directors here for continuing on this great journey at Reynolds Memorial Hospital. I can't tell you how proud I am of all of you," Wright said. "God bless and go Mountaineers."Prior to the celebration, Glen Dale Mayor Janet Scott, who has worked at the hospital for 50 years, said the city is proud to have WVU Medicine in the city."With WVU coming here, they have enhanced and brought services we have never imagined we could have in a small community hospital," she said. "We're extremely proud to have partnered with WVU Medicine."