By Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — Five years ago, West Virginia University Hospitals CEO Albert Wright and Gov. Jim Justice made a promise to the Fairmont and Marion County community.
They would bring back oncology services after Alecto Healthcare Services closed Fairmont Regional Medical Center. The company stripped services from the hospital before closing its doors in 2020.
On Friday, WVU Medicine Fairmont Medical Center opened its new WVU Cancer Center Institute services, fulfilling that promise.
“A big part of our goal as the health care system is to provide access around the state and access close to home,” Wright said. “This facility, Fairmont Medical Center, went through rough times over the last decade. We reopened it five years ago and it’s now thriving and doing well.”
The new center, which rests on the third floor of the hospital, took roughly $1 million and six months to build across 5,400 square-feet. The hospital built it in conjunction with the rest of the third floor renovations, which also added an inpatient and step down unit. Aaron Yanuzo, Chief Operating Officer of Fairmont Medical Center, said the cancer center expects to see roughly 1,500 individuals in the first year of operation.
