OHIO COUNTY, W.Va and BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WTRF)- September 4th and 27th, 2019: two days in Ohio Valley history that will live on.
Those were the days Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling, which was founded in 1890, and East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry, founded in 1906, had their last calls.
OVMC and EORH provided extensive care to the Ohio Valley and this closure is arguably one of the biggest losses this area has and will ever face.
Both owned by Alecto Healthcare Services, the announcement came in August 2019 that both hospitals would close as early as October 7th; citing $37 million in losses over the past two years and the inability to secure a strategic financial partner.
The closures sent shockwaves statewide.
West Virginia Congressman David McKinley, Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson, and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin worked to try to save the hospitals.
WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital and Wheeling Hospital have diligently helped fix the substantial gap in healthcare, opening new units, taking on a staggering number of more patients, and welcoming employees affected by the closure to work at their facilities.
