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FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Fairmont Medical Center, WVU Medicine is coming back to life a little at a time. West Virginia University Hospitals president Michael Grace said the opening of the new main entrance kicks off the multi-year plan for improvements, upgrades and additions.
“That campus is a branch campus of Ruby Memorial Hospital,” Grace said. “So, we could have more beds or different services that meet community needs.”
On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Grace said over the next three years they plan to add beds and specialized services as improvements continue. Grace said remodeling the aged building has been a time consuming challenge.
“We will have 72 beds when the skilled nursing unit is completed,” Grace said. “Hopefully, by this time next year that will be done.”
A pulmonology clinic and a sleep lab for outpatient sleep studies are on the way and soon inpatient dialysis services are expected to be added.
“Because you want to make sure you’re offering a robust amount of different types of services including in patient beds,” Grace said. “But, we also do need to think about more operating rooms or should we have more procedure rooms, because we have a finite amount of space.”
When Alecto Healthcare Services LLC announced closure of the facility in early 2021, WVU Medicine announced a $110 million investment into the building within weeks. Grace said in addition to medical services, the renovation plans include major infrastructure items, the most significant is a new HVAC system.
“Most importantly, it’s to make sure the good people of Marion County and Fairmont have convenient access to care,” Grace said. “Specialized care, and some of it is only available locally through WVU Medicine.