File photo by Derek Redd Orchard Park Hospital has announced its intent to merge with WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital.

A Wheeling-based inpatient pediatric psychiatric hospital has announced it will merge with the largest health system in West Virginia.

Orchard Park Hospital and WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital announced Wednesday that Orchard Park signed a letter of intent to merge with WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital. Orchard Park CEO Jacquelyn Knight said the merger would put the young pediatric hospital on solid ground for a long time to come.

“Orchard Park Hospital was established with a vision to expand access to high-quality pediatric psychiatric care in this region and to serve youth during their most vulnerable moments. Our commitment to delivering exceptional care has never wavered, and joining with Wheeling Hospital ensures that this standard will be sustained well into the future,” Knight said in a Wednesday morning release. “This partnership opens the door to new resources, broader expertise, and the ability to serve even more families through affiliation with a comprehensive medical facility.”

Opened in 2023, Orchard Park Hospital offers a comprehensive range of inpatient mental health services for children and adolescents ages 5 to 18 from West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It includes a 13-bed child unit, a 13-bed adolescent unit, and a four-bed special care unit, as well as a gymnasium and an outside area.

As part of the merger, Wheeling Hospital will work collaboratively with the experts at WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s and the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute to ensure Orchard Park continues to provide the highest quality of pediatric and adolescent mental healthcare to its patients.

WVU Medicine North Region President Douglass Harrison said this move falls directly in line with the mission of both WVU Medicine and WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital.

“The vision of WVU Medicine is to transform lives and eliminate health disparities, including access to care. Through this partnership, Wheeling Hospital and Orchard Park Hospital will continue providing this very critical healthcare service to children and families in the Upper Ohio Valley and beyond,” Douglass Harrison, president and CEO of Wheeling Hospital, said. “We want to make sure these families have the care they need close to home.”