The William A. Neal Museum of the Health Sciences will open Oct. 28 with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
West Virginia University will debut its new health science museum, which will give visitors a glimpse into the history of healthcare in West Virginia and Appalachia.
The William A. Neal Museum of the Health Sciences will open Friday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m., with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
It is named after the late Dr. William Neal, a pediatric cardiologist and researcher who had the vision for the museum. Before his death in 2021, Neal and others at the university worked to research stories, acquire objects and curate the displays.
“One of the really neat things they have there is the first prosthetic leg that was developed by a West Virginian … They have a very early model that is on display,” said Lori Hostuttler, interim director of the university’s West Virginia Regional History Center.
The museum documents the impact that WVU’s Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing and Public Health have had during the course of 150 years on the region and beyond.
Self-guided tours begin Friday at 3 p.m. following the ribbon cutting, then the museum will be open to the public any time the WVU Health Science Center is open.
Hostuttler said the museum will continue to expand.
“We’re really excited about the future of the Neal museum and really honored to be able to preserve and present the history of medicine in our state and region,” she said.
Earlier this week, West Virginia surpassed 7,500 COVID-19 deaths. But the virus has not had an equal impact everywhere. Across the country, some states and communities continue to be harder hit by the pandemic than others, and West Virginia is no exception — even varying by county.
Earlier this week, West Virginia surpassed 7,500 COVID-19 deaths. But the virus has not had an equal impact everywhere.
Across the country, some states and communities continue to be harder hit by the pandemic than others, and West Virginia is no exception — even varying by county.
Kanawha County is the largest in the state, with more than 180,000 residents. That’s roughly 10 percent of West Virginia’s population, and, as would be expected, the county makes up about 10 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.
For the most part, bigger counties around the state have more deaths, proportional to their size. The same goes for smaller counties and fewer deaths. But there are a few outliers.
One of the biggest outliers is Monongalia County, which accounts for just under 6 percent of the state’s population, but less than 3 percent of all deaths in West Virginia.
“In COVID, we found that probably the single greatest risk factor, especially early in the disease with the Wuhan strain, of a predictor of mortality was age,” Dr. Steven Eshenaur, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, said. “The older you are, the worse this disease is on you.”
Eshenaur points to the significant difference in the age of Kanawha and Monongalia counties’ populations as a likely explanation for the discrepancies in death rates.
“Kanawha County has 21.6 percent of our population that is over 65,” he said. “Mon County has 13.5 percent of its population over age 65. It’s almost half.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans age 55 and older account for 90 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the country.
CDC data also shows that the risk for death from COVID-19 grows dramatically as age goes up. Compared to 18-29 year-olds, 40 to 49 year-olds are 10 times more likely to die from COVID-19. For those aged 50 to 65, they are 25 times more likely.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that older populations are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 deaths.
Dr. Lee Smith is the health officer and director of the Monongalia County Health Department, and has led the county’s pandemic response for the past two-and-a-half years.
“Right now, we have [the] total number of deaths, [the] total number of cases,” Smith said. “The areas that we don’t have right now is how many of the people who contracted COVID were smokers, were elderly. We know that those are the at-risk populations.”
Smith cautions drawing conclusions from what he calls an incomplete picture. He said it may be years before we understand how and why COVID-19 impacted communities differently, if ever.
“Public health is going to be studying COVID probably for the next decade, if not more,” he said. “We saw that this impacted the elderly more at the beginning. So I think that it’s a worthy line of inquiry because this is going to be a cumulative knowledge built up over time.”
One thing that both health officers can agree on is the impact of vaccines on the pandemic and deaths. Eshenaur calls vaccines the single most effective tool we have to protect individuals, but the statewide rate of distribution for booster shots is at just 32 percent.
Smith said he can relate to the public’s COVID-19 fatigue.
“I think that because of COVID fatigue, many people are wanting just to not consider it anymore, and I certainly understand that because our staff is as fatigued as anyone with COVID,” Smith said. “But it hasn’t gone away completely. It was said early on, ‘My mask protects you, your mask protects me, my vaccine protects you, my, your vaccine protects me.’ I think that if we can move beyond the politics, and get to a point where we’re doing this as a community, that’s going to be the better position.”
COVID-19 fatigue and vaccine complacency could spell trouble in the coming weeks and months, as COVID-19 begins to interact with other respiratory viruses that surge with colder weather.
“We are moving into, the buzzword now is a ‘tridemic’ of flu, RSV, and COVID all potentially hitting their peak this fall,” Eshenaur said. “It could be very bad, especially when you see people that get concomitant illnesses, that is they get two illnesses at the same time, like flu and COVID, or RSV and COVID together.”
COVID-19 deaths are slowing in West Virginia, and that may be causing some people to let their guard down, but vaccine hesitancy combined with flu and RSV outbreaks could spell a long winter for the state.
One out of every 157 people have died from COVID-19 in Wetzel County, according to state health department data.
In northern West Virginia, nestled right below the state’s northern panhandle, is Wetzel County.
It’s small and rural. The Ohio River snakes past the county seat of New Martinsville, birthplace to famed West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart.
The county is home to around 14,000 people and has experienced the state’s highest rate of death from COVID-19.
One out of every 157 people have died from the virus, according to state health department data.
Carla McBee, the county medical examiner, said the local funeral homes couldn’t keep up with the demand at the height of the pandemic.
“We had funeral homes just having two and three and four funerals a week, which is not normal here,” she said.
McBee also responded to the pandemic as a county commissioner who approved an additional $200,000 in funds to agencies for protective gear. The commission also approved increased funding for the local food pantry to help the increased number of people who were out of work and in need of food, she said.
“We have had a lot of agencies in here saying, ‘Our budget is maxed. Can you assist us with funding?’ And we have,” McBee said.
Ninety-two people have died in Wetzel County from COVID-19 as the county reported another death as the state reached 7,500 deaths from virus.
For comparison, Kanawha, which is the state’s most populated county with more than 180,000 residents and 810 COVID-19 deaths, the death rate is one out of every 223 people.
The rate of death in Wetzel County stretched other agencies to their limit.
Steve Yoho, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Services, said the department stopped planning for natural disasters and emergencies, and instead, focused on helping the health department.
“We helped [the health department] put on the clinics and do testing and do shots,” he said. “Basically, for a two-year period, we didn’t do emergency management and became part of the health department.”
Employees with the Wetzel-Tyler Health Department have been on the front lines of the pandemic, serving a largely elderly population. DHHR data shows around 80 percent of residents 61 and older have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Health department administrator Ashley Guiler said they didn’t have enough staff to keep up with the state’s requirements for pandemic response.
“The local health departments weren’t provided any funding to allow us to obtain any staff to actually fight COVID-19, so we relied on our community partners to volunteer for us,” Guiler said. “We had a lot of retired nurses, we had a lot of EMS people join us to administer the shots on their days off from their regular jobs.”
The all hands on deck response to the pandemic meant other health department programs like preventative care and women’s health care were stalled for two years, Guiler explained.
“Now on the rebound, we’re seeing an increase in cancer. We’re seeing an increase in chronic diseases,” she said.
The pandemic has impacted Wetzel County in another way, according to McBee, as it overlapped with the county’s problems with substance use disorder.
“I believe our issues are a lot of poverty. We don’t have a lot of jobs in our county. People just don’t see a way out, and they don’t have the finances to get a way out, so they turn to drugs,” she said.
Nationwide, drug overdose deaths accelerated during the pandemic, and in West Virginia, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed nearly twice as many people died from an overdose in 2022 compared to 2016.
“Most people tell me they do it because they lack coping skills. I don’t see that getting any better. I just think everything looks bleak, and that’s why people start it,” McBee said.
As of Tuesday, more than 7,500 West Virginians have died from COVID-19, a reminder that the pandemic is not over.
As of Tuesday, more than 7,500 West Virginians have died from COVID-19, a reminder that the pandemic is not over.
According to data published by the New York Times, West Virginia has the fourth highest COVID-19 death rate of any state in the country. Only Mississippi, Arizona and Alabama rank higher.
For every 100,000 West Virginians, 418 have died from COVID-19, higher than the national average of 321 deaths per 100,000 residents.
COVID-19 deaths have slowed. Seven hundred fewer West Virginians died over the past 12 months than during the same period the previous year.
That may be in part to more vaccination, but with a vaccination rate of 59 percent, West Virginia lags well behind the national average vaccination rate of 68 percent.
If West Virginia continues at this rate, COVID-19 deaths could surpass 10,000 by the end of 2023.
Recent trends have pointed towards an improvement across the state. The 7-day death average has remained in the single digits since March, and hospitalizations are on a downward trend after a concerning summer surge. Active cases have also remained under 1,000 for the past week.
However as temperatures continue to drop, state leaders have expressed concern that colder weather and a resurgent influenza virus will bring another wave of death this winter.
Children's hospitals in neighboring states are experiencing a spike in Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases, and hospitals in West Virginia expect to quickly follow suit.
Children’s hospitals in neighboring states are experiencing a spike in Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases, and hospitals in West Virginia expect to quickly follow suit.
The virus is a common, but contagious virus that infects the respiratory tract. Symptoms include a runny nose, decrease in appetite, and a cough that can progress to wheezing.
West Virginia Health Association President and CEO Jim Kaufman said the states’ three main children’s hospitals are reporting a noticeable uptick in numbers.
Kaufman said WVU Children’s Hospital in Morgantown, Charleston Area Medical Center Women and Children’s Hospital and Hoops Family Children’s Hospital in Huntington are all feeling the strain as pediatric hospital bed capacity fills up.
“Right now the latest numbers I have is that 90 percent of our pediatric intensive beds are full,” Kaufman said. “So we still have some capacity; however, we are very concerned about the uptick in which you are seeing around the country, and we do know that likewise it’s the same for West Virginia.”
Kaufman said the state currently has 4200 staffed adult hospital beds, 350 staffed pediatric beds and approximately 125 pediatric ICU beds.
He said hospitals are trying to free up resources by deferring non-emergency procedures that require an in-patient stay, and moving older children to adult units where appropriate to free up beds where possible.
As hospitals try to anticipate needs, he said they are communicating and coordinating with other children’s hospitals and health providers, including out-of-state facilities.
Kaufman said with West Virginia’s pediatric hospitals facing both bed and staff shortages, it’s critical the public does their part to help hospitals facing an influx of very young patients.
“That is why we are asking everyone if they are able to get a flu shot and their covid booster to please do so,” Kaufman said. “Some people will say, ‘Oh – I can still get the virus,’ that’s true, but you’re less likely to be hospitalized, and that’s a critical part, making sure that we have that capacity for patients who need it.”
Gov. Jim Justice doubled down on his stance against vaccine mandates at Monday’s press conference.
West Virginia won’t require children to receive the COVID-19 vaccination for school enrollment, according to Gov. Jim Justice.
He doubled down on his stance against vaccine mandates at Monday’s press conference following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine experts’ vote that the COVID-19 vaccine be added to the children’s routine vaccination list. This was not a mandate.
“As long as I’m your governor, I will do everything in my power to prevent the federal government or West Virginia Legislature from mandating these COVID vaccines in our school system,” Justice said.
Schools and local jurisdictions have authority to determine vaccination requirements for school enrollment. No state so far has required the COVID-19 child vaccine for school enrollment.
Around 20 percent of West Virginia kids ages five to 11 are fully vaccinated against COVID-19; the number is 40 percent for 12 to 15 year olds, according to state health department data. Both numbers are behind the national average.
Justice encouraged children to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
Vaccination information from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources is available here.
