Community

Project HOPE

Crystal Bauer, registered nurse and director of Project HOPE, and Dr. Thomas Wack, interim health officer for Ohio County, met with Wheeling Hospital CEO Douglass Harrison to discuss the hospital's recent donation of medications to help Project HOPE. Bauer said the hospital's ongoing partnership with Project HOPE's team of licensed medical professionals allows them to prescribe and dispense medication to those experiencing homelessness and acute or chronic illnesses. "These medications allow us to treat a variety of illnesses from uncontrolled blood pressure, abscesses, respiratory infections and other chronic disease, thereby reducing the burden on emergency rooms, and ultimately the financial burden on the West Virginia taxpayer," she said. Project HOPE is a street medicine team that operates out of the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department. The program works to provide on-site medical care to those experiencing homelessness, through weekly street rounds and a weekly Saturday morning clinic.