Eric Ayres NAME ANNOUNCED – Douglass Harrison, president and CEO of WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital and Reynolds Memorial Hospital, speaks Friday during an announcement that the new regional cancer center in Wheeling will be known as the WVU Cancer Institute St. Joseph Regional Cancer Complex.

WHEELING – The collaborative history of Wheeling Hospital and the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston started 175 years ago, and on Friday, a new chapter in that partnership was celebrated as part of the announcement of the official name of the future WVU Medicine regional cancer center.

Ground is expected to be broken early next year for the center that will be known as the WVU Cancer Institute St. Joseph Regional Cancer Complex. The $122 million state-of-the-art cancer treatment facility will be constructed on the former site of the Ohio Valley Medical Center in Center Wheeling and is expected to open sometime in 2028.

Friday’s name reveal coincided with an announcement that a $10 million donation is being made toward the highly anticipated project. The contribution is from the Wheeling Hospital Foundation, formed in 2021 when WVU Medicine officially acquired Wheeling Hospital.

“We’re here today because of a very generous gift from the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and WVU Medicine,” said Douglass Harrison, WVU Medicine Northern Region president. “When we came into the WVU Health System, there was a foundation formed to support this hospital and our healing mission to make sure that healing mission continues. … That is truly remarkable and will make such a lasting impact towards care in this region and to serve our market.”

The Most Rev. Mark Brennan, Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, noted that the relationship between the diocese and the hospital has a very close history and a similar mission. Wheeling Hospital was incorporated in March of 1850 and the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston was established in July of that same year, he noted.

“The Diocese of Wheeling Charleston continues to own the land and the buildings, but we sold the equipment to WVU Medicine – and we got a nice chunk of money from that,” Brennan said. “The stipulation with that money to the foundation is that it has to be used for health care that’s connected with Wheeling Hospital. This gift of $10 million is a lead gift toward raising funds to build the cancer center.”

In addition to funds collected for the foundation from the sale of the equipment, rent is also collected from the hospital for use of the property. There have been other disbursements made from this fund, Brennan noted, describing the $10 million gift as a “big commitment” toward something that will serve a “big need.”

Brennan is the ninth bishop to serve the diocese and to work with the hospital, Harrison noted, crediting him for playing a vital role in continuing the rich history of collaboration to support health care in the region.

“We – WVU Medicine – would not be here today without his leadership,” Harrison said. “Since 1850, Wheeling Hospital has served this market under the leadership and guidance of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese. For 175 years, this hospital has served this region, and we’re very proud of our Catholic heritage and Catholic background.”

Harrison noted that the name of the future regional cancer center was very fitting for many reasons.

“The Sisters of St. Joseph have played such a vital role in this hospital for many years,” he said.

Friday’s announcement began with a prayer delivered by Sister Mary Ann Rosenbaum, director of pastoral care at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, and took place at the hospital’s main entrance in front of a statue of St. Joseph.

“St. Joseph took care of the infant Jesus,” Brennan said. “He is also the patron saint of the Catholic Church and the entire church, and specifically the patron saint of our Dioceses of Wheeling Charleston and the patron of our cathedral here in Wheeling. To name this cancer center after him I think is very, very fitting.”

Officials noted that in many ways, the diocese and the health system both embrace their roles of serving those in the community who are in need.

“Health care is a challenge in our country these days, and it’s especially a challenge in rural environments,” said Albert Wright, president and CEO of WVU Health System. “We have a lot of patients who don’t have any type of health care at all. We provide charitable care, and we do that proudly, for those who are uninsured or underinsured. We’re committed to taking care of any patient who needs us.”

Wright said he was looking forward to breaking ground soon at the new St. Joseph Regional Cancer Complex. The project is currently being designed by architects from the Smith Group and is intended to be big enough to meet the current needs of the entire region while allowing for expansions in the long-term future.

Dr. Jondavid Pollock, radiation oncologist with WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital and member of the WVU Cancer Institute’s team of specialists in radiation oncology, said focused regional cancer care will help bring the latest advancements in medical technology to the area.

“For too long in this part of the Upper Ohio Valley, there have been small satellites of cancer care with a focus on market share and economic feasibility,” Pollock said. “The fact that the grounds of OVMC will serve as the site where this great new cancer center will be built speaks to WVU’s goal to integrate and not separate health care advances in Wheeling.”

Pollock said support for the future cancer center will not only help build the facility itself but will help in the effort to build a team that will offer the best possible care for the community.

“This investment in us speaks to our value, and this will undoubtedly assist in our efforts to recruit excellent providers, look to build new programs relevant to our patient population and be counted among the best, and I suspect that will extend well beyond the upper Ohio Valley,” Pollock said. “I couldn’t be more excited about this project or its potential.”

Officials noted that through its partnership with the WVU Cancer Institute in Morgantown, the new center in Wheeling will keep local patients from having to travel long distances for quality care.

“A cancer diagnosis is a very scary time, and for many, many years, people heard ‘cancer,’ and they immediately started calling Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus – the regional, large cancer centers,” Harrison said. “With cancer care in West Virginia, for too many years, folks had to leave the market. What we’re trying to do is bring that care home. And that has been West Virginia University Health System’s mission for many years – to keep care local.”

Harrison noted that while larger metropolitan cancer centers focus on “trying to solve the world’s problems,” the new regional cancer center in Wheeling will focus on trying to solve problems for people in the Ohio Valley.

“Our hope is that this new regional cancer complex will continue to serve the needs of our market for generations to come and be a beacon of hope for many in our region, and that they can continue to receive outstanding cancer treatments at a very local level,” he said.