Residents and university students in Shepherdstown will have access to a new health care facility starting next month.
WVU Medicine East announced this week that its new medical office building is expected to open mid-September.
The facility will provide new health care opportunities for people living in Shepherdstown and students at Shepherd University. It will offer primary and specialty care and have x-ray and laboratory services.
“We are excited to provide high-quality healthcare services in the Shepherdstown area,” said Aaron Henry, vice president of ambulatory operations for WVU Medicine East. “We have plans to add more primary care providers as the practice grows and will offer a number of our specialty services such as behavioral health and cardiology on a rotating basis.”
Up until now, people in the Shepherdstown area, with the exception of one primary care office, have had to drive anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes to receive medical care.
“The fact that Shepherdstown only has one primary care physician is why opening a medical facility there is so important,” said Teresa McCabe, vice president of Marketing and Development at WVU Medicine East. “[We are] pleased to be able to offer Shepherdstown residents improved access to primary and specialty health care services.”
The new WVU Medicine East location will staff two family medicine physicians and a pediatrician, according to a press release, and offer “walk-in” hours once it opens.
Additionally, the building will include a space for the WVU School of Medicine Eastern Campus to establish a teaching kitchen that will offer healthy cooking classes for patients as well as medical students in the MedChefs program, according to McCabe.
WVU Medicine operates more than 100 University Healthcare clinics, including physician offices, in the Eastern Panhandle region.
They also operate two hospitals in the area – Berkeley Medical Center and Jefferson Medical Center. These are the only hospitals available to residents in Jefferson and Berkeley counties other than the Martinsburg VA Medical Center.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from Marshall Health and Charleston Area Medical Center.
