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The Health Plan To Stay In Wheeling

Photos by Scott McCloskey Jim Pennington, president and CEO of The Health Plan, on Tuesday discusses details of the insurer’s strategic partnership with West Virginia University Health System. Their new health care network is expected to be operational on Jan. 1.

WHEELING — The Health Plan’s headquarters will remain in Wheeling with employment at current, or higher, levels under a new partnership with West Virginia University Health System.

Officials of The Health Plan and the university’s health system, which operates as WVU Medicine, announced Tuesday their intent to form a fully integrated health care delivery and financing system.

Jim Pennington, president and CEO of The Health Plan, said the new health care network is expected to be operational on Jan. 1. He anticipates that regulatory approval will be secured from West Virginia and Ohio authorities.

In forming this strategic partnership, “one of the most important things to me” is “to stay in West Virginia and stay in Wheeling,” Pennington said. The Health Plan opened its $16 million headquarters in downtown Wheeling in February 2018.

“One of our key objectives is to protect our workforce,” he added. “Our goal is to grow both organizations.

“The West Virginia University Health System is the largest employer in West Virginia. We are one of the fast-growing organizations.”

In response, Wheeling Vice Mayor Chad Thalman said, “It’s potentially exciting news that WVU is coming into our community. At a city level we’re of course always concerned about jobs potentially leaving the area. So the city of Wheeling will be working with The Health Plan and WVU to make sure those Health Plan jobs stay here in downtown Wheeling and that we create as many jobs in the future.”

Under the plan, The Health Plan will be owned by West Virginia University Health System and operated as a subsidiary, Pennington said.

The new affiliation, however, won’t affect customers’ ability to choose medical providers within the network. All of the member facilities are “still accessible” to The Health Plan’s subscribers, he said.

Pennington said The Health Plan has a great relationship with Wheeling Hospital, Ohio Valley Medical Center, Charleston Area Medical Center, Cabell-Huntington Hospital and other health care providers in West Virginia and Ohio.

“You can go to any of the providers in our system … It is not a closed network,” he said.

“It doesn’t look like what’s going on in Pittsburgh with UPMC and Allegheny.” Pennington added, referring to a long-running battle between the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Allegheny General Hospital with their competing insurance companies and medical facilities.

The Health Plan’s name will not change, although WVU Medicine “will be tied to our name at some point,” he said.

Pennington said he will remain president and CEO of The Health Plan, but will report to WVU Medicine leaders in Morgantown. The Health Plan will have its own board of directors, with appointments made by WVU Health System and The Health Plan, he said.

The two entities signed a letter of intent on May 1. Representatives then spent two days visiting government officials and regulatory officials. The two organizations’ due diligence process will take about 90 days to complete, he said.

Pennington said he has been talking with WVU Medicine regarding a strategic partnership for about one and one-half years. He and Albert L. Wright Jr., president and CEO of WVU Health System, have held their positions for five years.

“Our visions for our respective companies were very similar,” Pennington said, noting that both The Health Plan and WVU Medicine are not-for-profit corporations.

Their goal is “making health care in West Virginia more accessible and more affordable,” he said.

As a payer of claims and a provider of medical services, the partners will be “working together to create a better model,” he added. “What’s good for the patient is good for WVU and good for us.”

Meanwhile, The Health Plan already has prospects for increasing its workforce in the near future.

For instance, one of the managed care organizations for Medicaid in West Virginia is not renewing its contract on July 1; The Health Plan stands to gain one-third of its caseload. As a result, 45-50 new employees would be hired at the insurer’s offices in Wheeling and Charleston, the CEO said.

In addition, if The Health Plan wins a contract with the state’s foster care system on Jan. 1, it would create “65 to 70 new jobs in West Virginia,” Pennington said.

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