SISTERSVILLE, W.Va. — Sistersville General Hospital is looking to enter a management agreement with WVU Medicine as the first step to the facility becoming part of the health care system.
President and CEO John May said the hospital is in discussions with WVU Medicine (formerly West Virginia United Health System) to negotiate the terms of a management agreement.
”The first phase is for them to manage us and figure out a way to provide services to the community,” May said. ”We are looking at becoming part of the system sometime in the future.”
SGH is a general acute critical access hospital with 12 licensed beds. The facility offers Imaging Services, Laboratory Services, Physical Therapy, Sleep Center, Wound Care, Respite Care, IV Therapy, Pulmonary Testing, Fitness Center, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Audiology, Podiatry, Nephrology, Cardiology, Family Practice, Emergency Services, an Extended Care Unit, an Oncology Specialty Clinic, Medication Assistance and more.
May said they are hoping to get the agreement in place as quickly as possible.
Under the proposed agreement, the hospital will still belong to the city.
However, May said sometime in the future they will be looking at building a new facility with WVU Medicine which would belong to the health system when completed.
WVU Medicine is the health system the Camden Clark Medical Center is a part of.
May said they have been talking WVU Medicine for years about the possibility of joining with them in some form.
As the health care field changes, Sistersville General Hospital does not have the resources to meet the needs of patients, May said.
”We needed to align ourselves with someone with a full book of services,” May said.
Some of those services might not be directly available in Sistersville, but the hospital wanted a way to give its patients access to those services.
”We are trying to be a part of something better,” May said.
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