photo by: Emma Delk

WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital leadership gathered to celebrate the opening of the Medical Oncology unit’s new lobby. From left, Wheeling Hospital Board Chair Josh Jefferson, Director of Medical Oncology Dr. Tina Bhatnagar, WVU Medicine Regional President & WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital CEO Douglass Harrison and WVU Medicine Regional Director for Cancer Services Don McNary.

Medical oncology patients at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital can enjoy a larger waiting room and streamlined check-in process thanks to renovations made in the unit’s lobby based on patient feedback.

WVU Medicine Regional President & WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital CEO Douglass Harrison said the updates will provide oncology patients with a “much more comfortable” wait at the hospital until the new regional cancer center opens in 2028.

The medical oncology unit is located on the third floor of Tower 4 at the hospital. Medical Oncology leadership and staff gathered in the new lobby alongside Wheeling Hospital leadership and board members to celebrate the improvements made on Monday.

WVU Medicine Regional Director for Cancer Services Don McNary said the entrance to the unit had been transformed from a “constrained, small hallway area” to a “nice and roomy” waiting room equipped with more seating.

Medical Oncology Nurse Manager Amie Matyas spearheaded the renovations to the unit. She said changes were made based on patient satisfaction surveys, with many respondents saying the unit needed a “brighter, more open atmosphere” with more seating.

“Patients come with family members and they can be in wheelchairs, and in the old waiting room, there wasn’t enough seating for everybody,” Matyas said. “We opened the space up and put as many chairs and open areas for wheelchairs as we could to make everybody comfortable.”

To open up this space in the lobby, Matyas said the medical oncology unit “took over the whole third floor.” This included moving physician offices and a cardiology office out of the third floor to allow for walls to be removed.

With more space available, the lobby now includes a central check-in area. From the check-in, patients are directed to either the clinic area where physicians see patients or the infusion area where they receive chemotherapy and other treatments.

“The workflow is designed that if they head one way, they’re going to see the doctor on the clinic side and if they head the other way, they’re going to have an infusion or receive other treatment,” Matyas noted.

McNary noted they were also utilizing patient feedback for the development of the new regional cancer center that will be built on the site of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center in Center Wheeling. He said one result of that feedback is the fourth floor of the building including “everything from radon [therapy] to supportive care to speciality care.” He noted infusion rooms at the hospital would overlook the city so patients could enjoy the view while receiving treatment.

WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital Board Chair Josh Jefferson said the hospital would stay focused on “patient care” during updates and new construction. He noted the efforts of the “tremendous team” at the Medical Oncology unit that helped ease the worry of patients enduring cancer treatments.

“It’s good to have our patients able to be here in a relaxed atmosphere where they have the support of the WVU care team,” Jefferson said. “This is the best cancer treatment you can have in the valley, and it’s only going to get better.”