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Wheeling Hospital is the largest single health care provider in our area. West Virginia University Health System (WVU Medicine) is, by far, the most important provider in the Mountain State. A partnership makes sense.
One was announced this week: WVU Medicine will be providing management services to Wheeling Hospital. A veteran of the university health care system, Douglass E. Harrison, will become chief executive officer at the hospital. Wheeling Hospital's board of directors will continue to have responsibility for financial oversight and quality of care.
For months, rumors have been circulating that WVU Medicine would absorb Wheeling Hospital and its associated facilities in both West Virginia and Ohio, which has occurred during recent years at other hospitals in our state. Reynolds Memorial in Glen Dale is on that list. Wetzel County Hospital, in New Martinsville, has a management agreement with WVU Medicine.
But the announcement Thursday stopped far short of that. It is just what it sounds like: WVU Medicine will be providing management services, much as another contractor might.
Given the size of WVU Medicine, the groundbreaking research being done there, and the quality of the institution, Wheeling Hospital should benefit from the arrangement. Already excellent care should be made even better. Cost-control strategies will benefit, too.
The new direction is especially important because of what happened earlier this year. In March, as we reported, the Department of Justice accused Wheeling Hospital, former CEO Ron Violi and R&V Associates, of which Violi is a director, of violations of federal law. Specifically, the hospital, Violi and R&V "knowingly submitted and caused to be submitted thousands of false claims" to the federal government, the Justice Department complaint alleges.
Obviously, getting that cleared up is the top priority for Wheeling Hospital's board.
Once that is done, however, exploring even closer links with WVU Medicine may be a good idea. The management agreement offers a period of determining how well the two entities work together and, perhaps, learning about benefits that could accrue to Wheeling Hospital -- and local residents in need of health care -- from additional cooperation.