Wheeling Rotary Gets Learns Details About New WVU Medicine Construction Projects

WHEELING — Wheeling Rotary Club members learned more about WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital’s latest construction projects underway including the WVU Cancer Institute St. Joseph Regional Cancer Complex and the Robert Sonneborn Family WVU Medicine Children’s Outpatient Center.

Jessica Moore, AVP of Foundation and Community Relations, WVU Medicine North Region, said the new cancer complex will have many features aimed at making patients feel comfortable, ready to receive their treatments and heal. 

On the fourth floor is where the 41 infusion rooms will be. Windows will have views of the surrounding area including the downtown. The hospital is hiring three new medical oncologists. There will be a cafe on site and a boutique for patients to buy items such as wigs, head wraps and prostheses.

A lab and compounding pharmacy will be on site so patients can get their blood work done prior to their infusion appointments. The center will also have a symptom clinic to help patients deal with symptoms related to their treatment instead of having to visit the main hospital’s emergency room. 

In the lobby, there will be a piano space. The complex will also have its own chapel. There will also be a history wall that will honor the former Ohio Valley General Hospital and Ohio Valley Medical Center that operated on that site for 129 years. A stairwell will be adorned with stained glass windows saved from the former Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy in Wheeling.

“This is going to be a very, very warm space,” she said. 

Moore noted, at first, the complex will be outpatient only, but will expand in future years to have inpatient beds for cancer patients as well.  

Larry Bandi, chairman of the fundraising campaign for the complex, said the $123 million facility is estimated to be completed by the late third or fourth quarter of 2028. It is being constructed on the former OVMC campus on Eoff Street in Center Wheeling. It will offer 125,000-square-feet of space on four stories.

He noted the goal is to raise $13 million.

“I’m happy to report that, to date, we’ve raised $11 million of the $13 million,” Bandi said. 

The complex will, at first, employ 150 people with most of the workers coming from the cancer departments at Wheeling Hospital and Reynolds Memorial Hospital. About a year after it opens, about another 20 people are anticipated to be hired, bringing the total to 170 people.  

Moore added that complex is anticipated to have economic impact of $88 million during the construction phase. 

She added having employees working at the complex will also have an economic impact on the Center Wheeling neighborhood and its businesses for years to come.

For Bandi, helping to raise funds for the complex hits close to home as he is currently undergoing another round of treatment for a cancer that has returned. He noted, however, that his prognosis is good.

“I didn’t realize in the midst of this project that two months ago my cancer would reappear,” Bandi said. “I’m personally going through this process, dealing with cancer and having treatments. I’m happy with the results and where we’re at with my personal dealing with cancer. The hospital has great staff and I just can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate being able to have my treatment done locally.”

The $16 million outpatient pediatric center will be on the Wheeling Hospital campus inside the former Bishop Hodges Continuous Care Center building. 

It is slated to open March 2027. It will feature separate entrances for well visits and sick patients, and have its own parking lot. There will also be an after-hours clinic so parents and children can have appointments after work and after school. 

There will also be a nutrition clinic and behavioral health clinic for pediatric center patients.

“These are two really strong programs that we are looking forward to changing some outcomes for families here,” Moore said. “These are the two biggest issues we have.”

Moore said the interior of the pediatric center will be colorful and inviting for children and families.

She worked with graphic design students at West Liberty University to create five different murals with an Oglebay Park theme. The murals will allow children to seek and find hidden objects, count and more.

“They are so beautiful …  and will be such a blessing for families,” she said.

The Wheeling Rotary Club is always looking for new members. The club typically meets at noon Tuesdays at WesBanco Arena in the lower-level club room. Taylor Abbott, executive director of the Ohio River Commission, is the scheduled speaker for the Sept. 29 meeting.

For more information, one can attend a meeting, visit rotarywheeling.org, visit the “Rotary Club of Wheeling, West Virginia” Facebook page or call 304-280-6212.