By Charles Owens
For Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Princeton — Officials with WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital announced plans Thursday for the construction of a $25.5 million four-story medical building that will be located adjacent to the main hospital campus.
The new 50,636 square-foot medical office will be located not far from the existing recreational center in Princeton. It will consolidate seven physician practices and outpatient therapies, providing improved access for patients and support for future growth.
Community members and hospital officials gathered Thursday to celebrate the announcement. The new development is being made possible after the WVU Health System Board of Directors approved a plan Wednesday to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the health care infrastructure of West Virginia and the surrounding region.
“We are so excited to be here today to be able to announce our $25.5 million office building expansion as part of WVU Medicine’s commitment to expanding growth and development throughout this state,” Karen Bowling, president and CEO of WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital, said. “WVU Medicine committed over $350 million across the state. Our project was one of the projects that was approved. It’s a much needed medical office building.”
Bowling said the new medical building will benefit the community and also help with the recruitment of new physicians.
“This medical office building is going to be four stories,” Bowling said. “On the bottom floor it will house all of our therapies. Right now our therapies are on the fourth floor of the Parkview side. It’s not convenient for our patients. It’s very difficult, you know, if you have a wheelchair, you have a walker. This will make easy parking and easy entrance to the bottom floor. It also allows us to expand our heart vascular institute once the therapies move out, which gives us greater access to cardiovascular service, which we all know is a huge need here in Southern West Virginia. And then it gives us three floors of medical office space. And so we believe that this project was essential for our growth.”
Bowling said the new medical building is part of WVU Medicine’s ongoing strategy to provide health care services to patients close to home.
“You know the importance of access to care close to home. I can’t emphasize it another way,” Bowling said. “If you’re from Southern West Virginia, Southwest Virginia, you know families are important. Families are important in the healing process. So if you think about it, having care close to home allows you not to have to worry about transportation. Who’s going to get me there? It allows it to stay local. So that your pastor, your family, your friends can come and visit you.”
The anticipated completion date for the new Princeton project is June 2028. The first construction residents will see take place will be the parking area for the new structure.
The new four-story $25.5 million medical facility will be constructed in an area that once housed Princeton’s dog park, and will be located close to the city’s recreational center. It is being completed through an agreement between the hospital and the city. The city itself is currently working to relocate most of its recreational facilities, including the dog park, to a new 11 acre site on Bee Street near city hall.
“The new medical office building will be close to the left or back from our current parking lot,” Bowling said. “It’s going to be near the rec center, but behind the rec center. Keep in mind that as far as the rec center goes, we’ve committed to the city that we’re not going to be doing anything with the rec center until such time as the new rec center is built. And so we’re able to work our construction around the rec center. So that rec center can still be there for the people in Princeton. And at some point, when they move then we’ll be able to decide what we need to do with the rec center, or whether or not we could use it for some other services.”
Princeton City Manager Mike Webb congratulated the hospital on the $25.5 million project.
“It’s a great day being here and great things are happening in Princeton and in Southern West Virginia,” Webb said. “What WVU medicine is doing and bringing here is building this city, really, for the next 20 to 30 years. And that’s something you’ve got to plan for and that’s something citizens will benefit from.”
Webb said the city is working with the hospital to promote health care growth.
“As you can see some of the things to the left here — the amenities that we have, whether it be the dog park, the softball fields and other recreation — we’re expanding that onto Bee Street next to the new city hall location,” Webb said. “And as we build that with the wave pool, the walking trail and all the amenities that we’re bringing, this is something of a coming together type effort of the hospital and the city to really build both health care as well as recreation. Get outdoors, get healthy, all those kind of good things. But all the things you see here we will build new ones over on Bee Street. And that’s something that is going along with our vision, if you will, to bring bigger and better, a really healthier atmosphere to the city of Princeton and Southern West Virginia.”
In addition to Princeton, the WVU Health System Board of Directors also approved projects for other parts of the state.
The projects, which are subject to regulatory approval, will be in Charleston, Fairmont, Keyser, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Princeton and Weirton in West Virginia; Oakland, Maryland; and St. Clairsville, Ohio. Collectively they include more than $350 million in investments bringing WVU Medicine’s three-year total of capital improvement projects to more than $1.2 billion.
“This continues our momentum of expanding access across the region to improve the health trajectory of the communities we serve, while also giving local economies a needed boost, as these projects will create new jobs and economic opportunities for thousands,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System, said in a press release announcing the new investments in health care.
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