Trending
CHARLESTON -- West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Thursday his office is looking into the circumstances behind the suspension Wednesday night of emergency and acute medical services at the Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling.
Curtis Johnson, press secretary for the Attorney General's Office, said in a statement Thursday afternoon that Morrisey and staff are looking at all legal remedies after Gov. Jim Justice released a statement Wednesday night asking the office to investigate.
"Attorney General Morrisey shares the governor's concern about the abrupt closure of Ohio Valley Medical Center and its negative impact on health care and employment in the state's Northern Panhandle," Johnson said. "Our office is looking closely at this issue and exploring every possible legal avenue to try to protect jobs and consumers' access to health care."
Justice, in his Wednesday statement, expressed displeasure in OVMC and its parent company, Alecto Healthcare, that only announced the end of emergency medical services and acute health services Tuesday.
Those services ended at midnight Wednesday, with possible full closure by Friday.
"It's easy to see that this huge out-of-state conglomerate cares very little for West Virginians," Justice said. "I have asked Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to look into any improprieties that Alecto has done or is doing that has caused West Virginians undue hardship."
Justice, U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and West Virginia University Medicine have been negotiating with OVMC for WVU Medicine -- the managers of Wheeling Hospital -- to take over the mental health and psychiatric services offered by OVMC. Those negotiations broke down Tuesday after Alecto announced the end of emergency and acute health services. Alecto also criticized state officials for inaction.
"Although we made every effort to interest WVU Medicine and Wheeling Hospital in taking over part of our downtown campus, they simply were not interested in our facilities that provide acute and emergency medical services," said Daniel Dunmyer, CEO of OVMC. "We were also contacted by officials from the state of West Virginia, who toured the campus to evaluate the building for other uses; however, we understand that nothing will be done to save acute and emergency medical services at OVMC. It's very unfortunate.
Justice lashed out Wednesday night at OVMC and Alecto, accusing the company of being more interested in milking every last dollar from OVMC than making sure people in the Northern Panhandle have access to health care.
"I have proposed multiple solutions through WVU Medicine that have fallen on deaf ears," Justice said. "Even though we have tried everything to keep OVMC open, I have always said that we have to be financially responsible and make sure that we don't throw money away by giving it to out-of-state corporations that are trying to line their pockets as they prepare for bankruptcy."
In statements, WVU Medicine CEO Albert Wright said Wheeling Hospital and Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Marshall County can handle emergency services cases for now while it looks to expand those options. Those seeking psychiatric and behavior health services will have to look outside the area for now, such as Morgantown, Charleston and Weston.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices went out to 1,079 hospital employees, notifying them they were losing their jobs: 736 employees at OVMC and 343 employees at Alecto-owned East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry, Ohio. WVU Medicine has already hired 100 displaced workers with more expected to be hired.