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West Virginia University Hospitals

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West Virginia University Hospitals includes Ruby Memorial Hospital, WVU Children's Hospital, Chestnut Ridge Center, the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, and the Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center, all on the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center campus of the university in Morgantown, as well as Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, and Jefferson Medical Center in Ranson.

Ruby Memorial, which opened in 1988, is a 531-bed hospital named in honor of Hazel Ruby McQuain and J. W. Ruby. The facility includes a day surgery center, comprehensive cardiac care, and the most modern medical imaging system in the state. In 2012, WVU Hospitals announced plans to build an additional tower. The 114-bed tower will take about five years to build at a cost of $228 million.

WVU Children's Hospital is located on the sixth floor of Ruby Memorial Hospital and is devoted to all aspects of care for women and children. It houses the area's only neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. About 1,600 babies are delivered at Children's Hospital each year, and home-like birthing rooms are available.

Chestnut Ridge Center, a 72-bed psychiatric and chemical dependency facility, opened in 1987. Many take advantage of the adolescent inpatient services offered at Chestnut Ridge. The WVU Departments of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry provide outpatient services for people of all ages at this facility.

The Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center was named in memory of the 16-year-old grandson of West Virginia's long-time U.S. senator, Robert C. Byrd. The boy died as the result of a car accident. The center is the only Level I trauma center in the region. The Health Net helicopter is dispatched from the radio center at the facility, and complex emergency surgeries are performed on a regular basis. Trauma surgeons, nurses, and other staff members work together to coordinate patient care before and during their transportation from accident scenes.

The Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center includes the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center, the Comprehensive Breast Care Program, and the Bonnie Wells Wilson Mobile Mammography Program. The Cancer Center is also home to the Osborn Hematopoietic Malignancy and Transplantation Program, West Virginia’s only source for blood and marrow transplants.

The Morgantown Ronald McDonald House, completed in September 1990, provides low-cost lodging for families of children who are patients at area hospitals. It is operated by an independent local board. About 90 percent of the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House have a child staying at WVU Children's Hospital. The Rosenbaum Family House offers 21 hotel-style rooms and five apartments as on-site housing for adult patients and families. The 20,964 square-foot structure, attached to Ruby Memorial Hospital, opened in 1999. With the planned expansion of Ruby Memorial Hospital, Rosenbaum Family House will move to a larger facility adjacent to the Ronald McDonald House.

WVU Hospitals serves as a teaching hospital and training facility for the university's five health sciences schools, dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and public health. Nursing and medicine, particularly, use the hospital for clinical instruction of students. WVU Hospitals operates as a nonprofit corporation affiliated with West Virginia University and belong to the West Virginia United Health System.

— Authored by Christine D. Fenn

Cite This Article

Fenn, Christine D. "West Virginia University Hospitals." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 08 February 2024. Web. Accessed: 20 September 2024.

08 Feb 2024