photo by: Eric Ayres

Guests got a chance on Friday to tour the fully renovated Orchard Park Hospital, which will soon be opening in the former Robert C. Byrd Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Center on Eoff Street in Center Wheeling.

WHEELING — Scores of local officials, community leaders and health care professionals gathered in Center Wheeling and braved the heat Friday to participate in an opening dedication ceremony for Orchard Park Hospital.

The ceremony marked the end of renovation to the former Robert C. Byrd Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Center at 211 Eoff St. and the long-awaited return of acute psychiatric care for youth in the Ohio Valley — the kind of services Orchard Park Hospital promises to deliver in the coming weeks.

“We’re very excited to be opening up this psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents here in the next few weeks,” said Jacqueline Knight, executive director of the Children’s Home of Wheeling, which operates the new facility.

“Orchard Park Hospital is the product of recognizing a need in our community and determination to use our experience as an organization to fulfill that need.”

Officials have been working for over two years on bringing the new hospital to life.

Over the past several months, renovations have been taking place inside the facility. A new commercial kitchen was installed, and other upgrades were performed inside the building in anticipation of the opening of a new, state-of-the-art hospital. The facility will offer therapy services proven to help children and teens in crisis go on to lead healthy lives.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice stopped by to participate in the opening ceremony and ribbon cutting.

“This is needed all across the state,” Justice said of the services Orchard Park Hospital will offer the youth and their families in the Ohio Valley. “We’ve just got to do more. Our kids need us so badly — and they’re worth it. It touches your heart.”

Justice said the opening of Orchard Park Hospital and the people in the community who helped make it happen are reasons why Wheeling is truly beginning to thrive.

“We’ve pulled the rope together all the way,” Justice said. “Children today are faced with so many obstacles. Today, it’s so complex. But I can tell you absolutely, right now, that what you’re doing is God’s work. And you should be very, very proud.”

photo by: Derek Redd

Plans for the new Orchard Park Hospital have been over two years in the making.

The 30-bed acute care facility accepts children and teens in crisis upon referrals from emergency room doctors throughout West Virginia and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. The new facility was described as potentially being a “lifeline to recovery” for children in need.

“It is somewhat bittersweet,” said Tanner Russell, president of the organization’s board of directors. “The downside of this story is that there is such a need for a facility like this, and a need for what it addresses — that’s the mental health issues that affect our youth.”

The upside, according to Russell, is that a dedicated team – along with strong community support – has been working to address those needs and fill the void left when the Robert C. Byrd Center closed its doors along with the closure of the Ohio Valley Medical Center in 2019.

“We believe this will be a phenomenal facility that will be staffed with some of the best and most talented people that can ever be hoped for to address the needs of one of our most treasured assets in the area and in this state – and that’s our youth,” Russell said. “We want to be here for decades to come.”

Orchard Park Hospital boasts three units with a total of 30 beds. One unit has 13 beds for children ages 5-12. Another 13-bed unit is for adolescents between the ages of 13-18. One special care unit with four beds is for children with autism or severe social issues. Residents also have access to a gymnasium and area for outdoor activities.

Following the closure of the Robert C. Byrd Center, area children who needed acute psychiatric care were placed at other facilities throughout the state or beyond – if an open bed was even found to be available.

“Compassion is what drives what we do,” said Cory Carr, Orchard Park Hospital administrator, who praised the board of directors, administrators and staff who have pulled together to help get the facility open. “If anyone was asked to do something over the past few weeks, the answer has been ‘whatever you need, whatever it takes.’ I think we can carry that culture and that kind of compassion through the hospital out into the community.”

Members of Wheeling City Council, the city administration, the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce and other local officials joined in Friday’s ceremonies, bringing together a united front for the cause.

“I cannot stress all of the effort that has been put into making this hospital come to fruition,” Knight said. “We’re really excited, and we’re hoping to have the best quality services possible.”

Staffing of the facility is ongoing, officials said.

“We have brought on a number of mental health techs and nurses,” Knight said. “We are still looking for staff, and we’re hoping to get it ramped up so that we can open all three units.”

After some regulatory approvals are granted and open positions continue to be staffed, Orchard Park Hospital is expected to become operational in the next few weeks. The facility will be opened in phases, unit-by-unit, until it is entirely up and running.

“Right now we have the staff for one unit,” Knight said, encouraging eligible nurses, mental health technicians, kitchen workers and other job seekers who may be interested in joining the Orchard Park Hospital staff to apply.

Qualified job applicants are encouraged to reach out by visiting the website for the Children’s Home of Wheeling at chowinc.org, by emailing Megan Pearl, human resources coordinator, at mpearl@chowinc.org or by viewing the job listings on the Indeed employment website.