#ovmc

It started here in Wheeling, believe it or not, back in the 1940s. That’s when people started leaving the Friendly City for opportunity across the Ohio River. There were 60,659 residents in Wheeling in 1930, and little by a lot since, the city’s population has dipped below 27,000 for the first time in 150 years. And when that takes place, the tax base shrinks, changes take place, decay threatens safety, crime increases, and government kicks cans down the road over and over again. Thankfully, efforts have been made by both the private and public sectors over the past few decades to bridge the region’s Rust Belt era to a still undefined but developing resurrection.One significant advantage Wheeling will have is, by the end of 2025, the state will have spent more than $360 million on infrastructure makeovers to the bridges and ramps along Interstate 70, to the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and on the current $32 million streetscape in the downtown.This retaining wall along 14th Street is what supports Lind Street in East Wheeling, and it appears to need attention from the City of Wheeling.“Everyone knows downtown Wheeling will never be the retail area it once was because that’s not what downtown are these days,” said Erikka Storch, a former state lawmaker who was the Chamber of Commerce president during the 2010s. “The interstate work was long overdue, and the project on the Suspension Bridge was on the schedule for eight years until it finally took place because of the tour bus incident.“Even though the streetscape was delayed a couple of times because of the city, it’s still going to make a very positive difference in our downtown, and that’s very exciting to me. I can’t wait to see it for myself and I’m sure a lot of other people feel the same way,” she said. “I just know I’m thankful for the vision of former mayor Andy McKenize. If he didn’t see what was possible, and then make the deal with the state, who knows where’d we be today.”Another advantage, ironically, will be delivered by destruction.Despite the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the electric scooter company in December, the Bird vehicles have remained available in many areas of the city.The $7 million demolition of the OVMC campus officially started nine days ago with crews starting with the Northwood and Hillcrest buildings. The plan calls for both of the former nurse’s quarters to be taken down next, and then the South and East buildings and the Education and Administration structure will follow.The West Tower, home of the general hospital and its EMSTAR unit until the sudden closure in late September 2019, is last on general contractor F.R. Bienke’s razing list.“It’s going to be a gradual process because of how large the campus is, and because of the removal of the materials that have to be moved away,” explained Bob Herron, Wheeling’s city manager since 2001. “The asbestos removal has taken place, and now the company will go one building at a time. It’s going to take some time.“But after the demolition, WVU (Health System) will begin the construction of the regional cancer center, so that’s the good news,” he said. “We’re also demolishing the parking garage on Chapline (Street), so a lot is happening in that area right now.”The Christmas Store at the Teacher's Store in Center Market is conducting its final clearance sale. and will close for good in the near future.The view from this open lot in Center Wheeling offers a look at what's taken place thanks to the population decline in a once prominent neighborhood.The south market house at Centre Market is home to several eateries, including Coleman's Fish Market, Tito's on the Market, Michael's Beef House, and Valley Cheese.Vegetation has caused much of the tunnel's eastside facade to become stained and unattractive since its last cleaning in 2009.The recent frigid evenings have kept families indoors and playing board games such as this classic. The number of venues offering live music has declined, but there still are several offering local performers on Friday and Saturday evenings.When Wesbanco Bank constructed its headquarters in downtown Wheeling back during the late 1970s, it changed the city's skyline forever. Despite the continued

The following information is from the City of Wheeling's Facebook page:"City officials were proud to join WVU Medicine leadership this morning for the unveiling of renderings for the new WVU Regional Cancer Center, located at the site of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center in Centre Wheeling. "This transformative $122.6 million project will create a four-story, 127,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art outpatient facility affiliated with the WVU Cancer Institute. The new center will consolidate cancer services from both Wheeling and Reynolds hospitals and will offer infusion therapy, radiation oncology, imaging, laboratory services, specialty clinics and dedicated space for future expansion."WVU Health Systems entered into a lease agreement with the City of Wheeling two years ago for the use of the land in Center Wheeling.When initially announced, the facility was projected to be smaller than what was announced today. Read the full article

(Publisher's Note: This article was initially published in December 2021 in hopes that someone who knows something about the disappearance of Nancy Lynn Green, a 45-year-old female who vanished in Center Wheeling 22 years ago today, would come forward with information that would give closure to a daughter who has refused to stop her search for her mother. ... Can you help her?)Every day, she wonders. There has not been a day in the past 22 years, two months, and nine days when April Green Thompson has not looked for her mother, Nancy Lynn Green, after she vanished on September 30, 2002. Nancy had been dropped off by her sister, Darlene, at 7:25 a.m. at OVMC, for treatment for bipolar disorder, but she never showed up for the appointment.According to the report filed by Wheeling Police on Oct. 1, 2002, Green was a white female who was 45 years old with short, brownish-gray hair. She was 5’ 4”, 120 pounds with brown eyes, and fair skin, and “was last seen wearing a gray color, cotton jogging suit and white tennis shoes.”The report also included that Nancy suffered from an undefined heart condition, that her hands shake, and that she has a scar on her right leg shaped like a “V."Darlene told officers Nickerson and Flanegin that she believes “Nancy could be roaming the city somewhere since this has happened before, and she was found in the woods behind Wheeling Hospital.”“She told me after she was found that the only reason was that a raccoon scared her, and she ran from it,” Green Thompson explained on 100.1 FM WLYV. “She wasn’t a happy person because she felt she was a burden on her family, and she didn’t like that fact, but that’s never stopped me from taking a second or third look at someone who I think looks like her.“We had a pretty big search party for her when she first disappeared. We went up what used to be a road known as ‘Suicide Hill’ and all around the hospital because there are a lot of wooded areas, and that’s where she had gone the first time,” she said. “We felt we looked everywhere possible, but no one found a thing. Not a sign. And apparently, no one saw where she went either, and we didn’t have cameras everywhere like we do these days.”This poster was widely circulated soon after Nancy Green was reported missing.Needle. Haystack.The city of Wheeling had nearly 35,000 residents at the time Nancy Green vanished, and the fact she disappeared from one part of town only to be found in another greatly broadened the search area for family and friends.“And we really didn’t know where to look after we searched around the hospital,” Green Thompson said. “He knew people from all over town. When she disappeared, she had a place in Luau Manor, but she was staying with my aunt at Hildar in Elm Grove. So, we didn’t know.”The family did register Nancy Green’s disappearance with the Center of Missing Adults, a non-profit that offers support but not an investigation, and a case manager named Wade L. Smith sent Green Thompson 10 pages of possibilities that included information gathered by Peoplefinding.com. There are the addresses of her seven different residences, more than 100 names of possible acquaintances, and the names of nearby businesses that she may have visited after choosing not to go to her morning treatment. “And that could have been the case because she said she didn’t like the shock treatments,” Green Thompson said. “I guess her doctors thought shocking her brain could have helped, and sometimes I think they did. At least they seemed to.“She and my dad split up when I was 6, but he would take me to see her whenever I wanted, and that was several times per week,” she recalled. “She had her good days and her bad days, and you never knew what to expect. That’s just the way it was with her.”According to data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, more than 17,000 adult Americans currently were missing at the end of 2020, and at least 13,000 unidentified body cases were on the books, as well. In Pennsylvania, 401 residents remain missing today, and the same is true in Ohio for 358. Currently, 120 cases involving missing adults remain active in West Virginia.“I have to update the National Center for Missing Adults every year, and when I look at how many cases there are, it makes me sad for all of the families,” Green Thompson said. “I guess you don’t think about it unless a member of your family is missing, and even though it took place 19 years ago, she’s on my mind every single day.” April does not possess many photos of her mother.Returning to the Airwaves740-676-2001 was the phone number.Green Thompson returned to The River Network (100.1 FM WLYV) with hopes someone in the audience can offer her new information.Did someone see her? Talk to her? Did Nancy Green bum a smoke or ask for a ride? Did she say anything to anyone?Apparently not.“I doubted that anyone calls, but you won’t know unless you do it, right? I expect some people to call in support of me and my search for her, but for someone to call and actually tell me where she went or what happened to her, I just can’t see that happening after all of this time,” Green Thompson said. “If there is someone out there who knows something, maybe they might think they could get in trouble for telling me anything. Who knows?” It was only 10 digits to dial. 740-676-2001.In September 1993, the OVMC campus was crowded with the medical center, Northwood, and the Hillcrest Behavioral Center operating with more than 700 employees. The area where Green was dropped off by her sister was near the center of all of that action.“It was early in the morning, though, so maybe that made a difference,” Green Thompson said. “I really don’t think she’s still alive at this point. She was 45 then, and it’s been 19 years, and she had her health issues. Plus, she was suicidal. She had attempted to overdose back then, so maybe this time she was successful.“At this point, honestly, finding her bones would give me closure,” she admitted. “That would let me stop looking and holding out hope that somehow she’s out there somewhere. I loved my mom, and that’s why I just want to know.”740-676-2001. The phone, though, never rang.

After two years of planning, the process of beginning the Wheeling Hospital/West Virginia University Health System (WVUHS) Regional Cancer Center project on the site of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center (OVMC) has been finalized.WVU Medicine-Wheeling Hospital, WVUHS, the Ohio County Commission, and the City of Wheeling completed a lease and financing transaction Tuesday in which Community Bank provided exceptional terms for financing a portion of the environmental remediation and demolition of the former campus’ eight buildings totaling nearly 800,000 square feet. City Manager Robert Herron explained that Wheeling Hospital/WVUHS, through a long-term lease, will now have control of the site for not only beginning demolition, but ultimately for the construction of a state-of-the-art regional cancer center that will serve our citizens cancer treatment needs for generations to come. The environmental and demolition component of the regional cancer center project is expected to take 14 months. This estimated $75-$90 million investment will generate 40,000-50,000 patient visits a year and will be one of the largest economic development projects in the City’s history. The City of Wheeling is truly grateful to WVU Medicine-Wheeling Hospital and WVUHS for their faith in our community and theircontinued commitment to providing exceptional health care and well-being to our region.“For many years, our area was blessed to have two wonderful hospitals in Wheeling Hospital and OVMC. This project continues the tradition of providing first class health care from this site. This project is a shining example of the cooperation that exists between the City of Wheeling and the Ohio County Commission. Without the Commission’s support and financial contribution, this venture would not have been possible,” said Herron. “City Council has been steadfast in their support of developing this property in a manner that is impactful for our entire community. Today’s announcement accompanies that goal tenfold.”Ohio County Commission President Randy Wharton said the Commission is pleased to be a part of this project.“This partnership with the City of Wheeling and WVU Medicine will not only help to transform healthcare in our region but will have a very significant economic impact in Ohio County and the Valley as a whole. This project would not have been possible without the vision and commitment of the entities involved and I couldn’t be happier to see this come to fruition,” said Wharton.WVUHS CEO Albert Wright, WVU Medicine-Wheeling Hospital CEO Doug Harrison and their staffs, Wheeling City Council, the Ohio County Commission, the Wheeling Municipal Building Commission, Regional Economic Development Partnership and the City Manager’s office are all to be congratulated for an innovative, cooperative and thoughtful approach to making this exciting project possible.

(Publisher's Note: A new future for the former Ohio Valley Medical Center Campus was announced in October 2022 and since Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron has navigated a path that ultimately leads to the demolition of nearly 800,000 square feet of space once utilized to save lives. The razings of six structures are expected to begin this Fall, and the project will take more than a year to complete. Once cleared and sculpted, the Center Wheeling block will see the construction of a regional cancer center by WVU Health Systems, a facility expected to measure between 70,000-90,000 square feet with as many as 150 employees.) The six Center Wheeling structures on the former campus of the Ohio Valley Medical Center will be demolished to make way for a new, 95,000-square-foot regional cancer center owned and operated by WVU Medicine.The announcement was made this morning during a 10 a.m. press conference in the courtyard of the campus. Officials from the WVU Health System, the City of Wheeling, and the Ohio County Commission distributed a press release that stated the development would positively transform the delivery of healthcare and the economic landscape of Wheeling, the Northern Panhandle, and the surrounding region.Members of Wheeling Council met yesterday to vote on a resolution that allowed City Manager Bob Herron to negotiate and enter into an agreement with WVU Medicine during a special Noon meeting Thursday. The resolution passed 6-0 with Mayor Glenn Elliott absent.The agreement with WVU Medicine was the worst-kept secret in Wheeling for more than a year. City Council voted 6-0 in June 2020 to acquire the campus, including the former Ohio Valley Professional Center that is being renovated into a new police department headquarters. Efforts were made to market the buildings to local and regional companies, and the campus also was in the center of a controversy between City Council and administrators from Bluefield State University.The six buildings on the OVMC campus will be razed over several months before the pad is prepared for the new development.A few non-profits relocated to the campus, Roxby Labs operated in an area inside the East Tower during the coronavirus pandemic, and City Manager Bob Herron moved a few departments to the E&A Building to help with social distancing on the first and third floors of the Ohio County Courthouse.The OVMC campus was home to much more than the 200-bed medical hospital in the West Tower. When it was shuttered in September 2019 by Alecto-West Virginia, both sides of the former nurse’s residence were used for storage, the South Tower was crowded with doctor’s offices and treatment floors, the original OVGH, or East Tower, was transitioned into an office building, and the Education and Administration Building was filled with offices and learning areas.The Hillcrest Behavioral Center was a mental health facility with 30 beds and counseling areas, and EMSTAR was always one of the busiest emergency rooms in the Upper Ohio Valley. More than 800 employees lost their jobs three years ago when all departments closed after two years of operation under Alecto. The healthcare provider also owned, and closed, East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry.

People asked him every day.“What are you going to do with that?”“What isn’t anything happening with that?”Over and over. And the THAT the people were asking about was the former campus of the Ohio Valley Medical Center and its 800,000 square feet of space inside the walls of six multi-story buildings.Finally, Wheeling Councilman Ben Seidler has an answer to offer.“Although the vote to take possession of the OVMC campus was the last one before I became a member of Wheeling Council, I do feel as if a huge load of worry has been taken off my shoulders, and I’ll tell you why,” Seidler explained. “As the council representative for Ward 2 covering Wheeling Island, North Wheeling, and the Fulton, one thing I know a lot about is empty buildings and what happens to them over time.“If we would not have taken possession of those buildings, I know we as a City would have ended up tearing them down anyways after someone who purchased them off auction had stripped them down to their skeletons,” he said. “It’s an evil cycle and it never ends in this city because property owners know how to play the system. That’s why I supported the City taking possession and doing what we did for two years so we could reach this point in time.”City officials joined executives from WVU Medicine last Friday to announce a new cancer treatment and research facility would be constructed on the land where the former Ohio Valley Medical Center rests today. The six structures on the property now will be demolished after the remediation of asbestos and other materials take place over the next 12 months.OVMC was shuttered by Alecto-West Virginia in late September 2019 after just two years of operation. More than 800 employees lost their jobs, and once the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020, access to health care was very limited throughout the Upper Ohio Valley.“That’s one of the biggest reasons why Friday was a great day for everyone involved, and it was a great day for the people who won’t have to travel in the future to get the medical help they need,” Seidler said. “If you are someone who has never experienced cancer yourself or with a family member, then maybe you don’t understand completely, but I have and that’s why I know how important this treatment center is going to be once completed.“And we could not have reached this point without the amazing leadership of (city manager) Bob Herron,” he continued. “He pulled this off for us despite the many challenges that were involved, and now we’ll see a very large area become something that will save lives again and we all owe Bob a great deal of gratitude.”This rendering was released by WVU Medicine so that local residents could envision what will replace the six buildings currently on the OVMC campus.Floor By Floor. Brick By Brick.The East Building. The South Tower. The old and the new portions of the Nurse’s Residence.There’s also the Education and Administration Building, the West Tower, and the former home of the Hillcrest Behavioral Center.Add up all the floors in each of the six structures, and the total square footage of the OVMC campus total just about 800,000.“And I was told that it’s about eight acres of space when you added it all up,” Seidler said. “Think about that. It’s a huge amount of demolition that has to take place before anything can be flattened and constructed on that land, and it’s not going to happen overnight.”That’s why Seidler, and most other local residents, likely will make effort to observe the leveling of the medical center that has rested on the same land for more than a century. The oldest structure is the original Ohio Valley General Hospital, now to referred to as the East Building, and the newest building is the former home of Hillcrest.“Watching those buildings come down is going to be surreal for sure because they have stood there my entire lifetime,” Seidler said. “I know there are a lot of people who have an emotional attachment to those buildings because there are a lot of history there, but the buildings were beyond the point to where they could have been reasonably restored. They are in worse shape than a lot of people realize, and in the two years the City has owned them, it’s cost us all a lot of money.“This new campus is going to be amazing, and it’s going to change that area of Center Wheeling forever,” the council member said. “I know that our Centre Market area lost a lot of business because, just like that, hundreds of people just went away from the area. What WVU Medicine will do on that footprint will not bring as many employees to Center Wheeling, but I believe, over time, we’ll see more development in that area that will.”Kurt Zende, currently the president of the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce, was the economic development specialist for the city of Wheeling for 18 years and he spent more than two years attempting to recruit takers for floors, buildings, and even the entire parcel.“I know there was some interest communicated, and there were a handful of groups that came to Wheeling to take tours and to talk terms, but those people were interested in pieces of the property and not the whole campus like WVU Medicine was,” Seidler reported. “I am not aware of another group that was interested in the entire campus and that is what we were all hoping for as the result.“One of the biggest reasons why I am so happy this property will belong to someone else soon is the amount of money it took to just maintain all of the buildings. Depending on the season, the City spent between $50,00 and $80,000 keeping the utilities on and staffing the campus just enough to make sure everything was OK,” the councilman explained. “The way the utilities were connected on that campus, if you kept one building warm, you had to keep them all warm, and that cost a lot of money.”

The six Center Wheeling structures on the former campus of the Ohio Valley Medical Center will be demolished to make way for a new, 95,000-square-foot regional cancer center owned and operated by WVU Medicine.The announcement was made this morning during a 10 a.m. press conference in the courtyard of the campus. Officials from the WVU Health System, the City of Wheeling, and the Ohio County Commission distributed a press release that stated the development would positively transform the delivery of healthcare and the economic landscape of Wheeling, the Northern Panhandle, and the surrounding region.Members of Wheeling Council met yesterday to vote on a resolution that allowed City Manager Bob Herron to negotiate and enter into an agreement with WVU Medicine during a special Noon meeting Thursday. The resolution passed 6-0 with Mayor Glenn Elliott absent.The agreement with WVU Medicine was the worst-kept secret in Wheeling for more than a year. City Council voted 6-0 in June 2020 to acquire the campus, including the former Ohio Valley Professional Center that is being renovated into a new police department headquarters. Efforts were made to market the buildings to local and regional companies, and the campus also was in the center of a controversy between City Council and administrators from Bluefield State University.The six buildings on the OVMC campus will be razed over several months before the pad is prepared for the new development.A few non-profits relocated to the campus, Roxby Labs operated in an area inside the East Tower during the coronavirus pandemic, and City Manager Bob Herron moved a few departments to the E&A Building to help with social distancing on the first and third floors of the Ohio County Courthouse.The OVMC campus was home to much more than the 200-bed medical hospital in the West Tower. When it was shuttered in September 2019 by Alecto-West Virginia, both sides of the former nurse’s residence were used for storage, the South Tower was crowded with doctor’s offices and treatment floors, the original OVGH, or East Tower, was transitioned into an office building, and the Education and Administration Building was filled with offices and learning areas.The Hillcrest Behavioral Center was a mental health facility with 30 beds and counseling areas, and EMSTAR was always one of the busiest emergency rooms in the Upper Ohio Valley. More than 800 employees lost their jobs three years ago when all departments closed after two years of operation under Alecto. The healthcare provider also owned, and closed, East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry.