By Maggie Susa
The Herald-Dispatch
POINT PLEASANT — Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., visited Rivers Health, a Marshall Health Network Hospital, Tuesday afternoon to see progress being made.
The facility’s emergency department is under renovation. During his time as governor of West Virginia, Justice approved $7 million in state funding to support phase one of the project. Once complete, the expanded emergency department in Point Pleasant will include 11 private emergent treatment rooms, two private trauma rooms, two psychiatric rooms, two decontamination suites and express treatment rooms.
A new, dedicated ambulance bay will improve patient transport and emergency response efficiency. The space will total nearly 12,000 square feet, more than two times the size of the current emergency department.
The renovated emergency department is expected to open this fall.
“I commend you for all the good stuff you’re doing — expansion, everything you’re doing here. It is unbelievable,” Justice said to the crowd. “And I know you’ll do so much goodness that’s off the chart. And (there’s) no telling how many lives you would touch and how many lives you’ll save.”
Justice also discussed cuts to Medicaid funding following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill. In West Virginia, the $1 billion expected loss is said to be offset by $200 million the state is receiving through the Rural Health Transformation Fund.
The Republican senator defended his support for the legislation.
“I wasn’t a no vote for the Big Beautiful Bill. I was a no vote for the amendment, and then right behind that, a bunch of other senators jumped in on my side, and it never even got introduced,” Justice said Tuesday. “You see, because at the end of the day, that’s what you would have done. That’s exactly what you would have done. This is our lifeblood. This is absolutely what we do.”
Justice said more money will be on its way to West Virginia.
“And so we’ve got some more money on the way. It still won’t be enough. Another $200 million coming to West Virginia is a big deal. But it won’t be enough,” he said. “We gotta stay on this all the time.”
When asked how rural hospitals like Rivers Health can expect to make up for the loss of funding, Justice said “there’s lots of things still in the cooker” such as funding through the Affordable Care Act, waivers and insurance.
Scott Raynes, president and CEO of Marshall Health Network, said Justice’s assessment of the situation facing the state and its medical facilities was “accurate and factual.”
“I think that we’re fortunate that he took the position that he’s taken so that we wouldn’t see more dramatic cuts to Medicaid than what we’ve seen,” Raynes said, adding that Justice has always advocated for rural health, both during his time as governor and now in the Senate. “We don’t love the Big Beautiful Bill as it applies to Medicaid cuts that we’re going to see, but thanks to him, it didn’t get worse than it would have been.”
Raynes said Marshall Health Network has plans and ideas to make up for the lost funding.
“We’ll be more innovative in the way that we provide care through technology, through different efficiencies, through our mobile bus, through telemedicine. We’ll maintain our programs, but we’ll create different ways to access us so that it won’t be all about bricks and mortar and people having to come to a specific location miles and miles away. We’ll work to bring care closer to home via technology.”
During the visit, guests toured the Emergency Room and Marshall Health Network’s Marco Mobile Medical Unit, launched in 2025, to bring primary and preventive care directly to rural and underserved communities.
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