Tag: Ruby Memorial Hospital

New Bone and Joint Hospital Opens in Ruby Memorial

A new 22-bed orthopaedic hospital is opening on a floor of Ruby Memorial as part of an effort to meet growing demand for complex orthopaedic care in the region. Existing outpatient orthopaedic clinics will continue to provide services.

The new WVU Medicine facility will provide hip or knee replacement, and orthopaedic procedures for traumatic injuries, metabolic bone disorders, musculoskeletal oncology, spine, joint degeneration, cartilage regeneration, sports injuries, ankle arthroplasty, and hand and shoulder disorders among other things, according to a press release.

The hope is that the new hospital will also allow WVU Medicine to recruit new faculty, expand research and educate nationally recognized surgeons. 

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.

WVU Hospital Locked Down For Hours After Computer System Failure

Information technology specialists at Ruby Memorial Hospital are individually checking more than 14,000 computers on the hospital’s campus after malware or a virus sent the hospital into a lockdown this morning.

The hospital reportedly began experiencing issues with both its clinical and security operating systems just after midnight Tuesday, and around 4 a.m. lost the use of its video monitoring system. That sent the hospital into lockdown for nearly four hours.

West Virginia University Hospitals Director of Public Affairs Amy Johns says even with the loss of the systems, at no point was patient care or security put at risk. During a phone interview, Johns maintained there is also no reason to believe the glitch was the result of an attack on the hospital.

“We have no evidence that patients’ private information or medical records were accessed. This does not appear to be an effort to hack into the system or steal patient—or employee—information,” Johns said.

Johns said security guards were stationed at each entrance during the lockdown to check IDs and doctors and nurses continue to perform their duties the old fashioned way—using paper.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.

New Unit at Ruby Memorial Hospital is Ebola-Ready

Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown is now equipped and prepared with what’s called an Infection Prevention and Containment Unit, complete with five isolations rooms, in the event that any sick person be admitted who has had any possible exposure to the Ebola virus.

A WVU Healthcare Ebola Task Force is now prepared for any potential encounters with the virus. Personnel from emergency medicine, infectious diseases, nursing, and several other areas of the hospital have undergone training and the hospital spent half a million dollars converting a section of its emergency department into a special unit designed to protect both patients and healthcare workers.

Medical Director of the Emergency Department, Dr. Owen Lander says the facility is modeled on facilities in the country that have already effectively contained and treated Ebola patients.

“I think it’s important to emphasize that the risk is low, but the stakes are high,” he said.

In addition to the isolation rooms, the Infection Prevention and Containment Unit includes a lab for blood tests, and specific rooms for donning and removing protective clothing and equipment. Patients who arrive at the hospital are triple-screened using protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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