WVU Medicine dedicates recent expansion at Fairmont Gateway Clinic
Jan. 10—FAIRMONT — Officials with WVU Medicine on Monday dedicated a recent $1.5 million expansion of the Fairmont Gateway Clinic with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
The expansion, which will open to the public on Jan. 18, adds 11 exam rooms, a procedure room and five rooms that will support building operations. The expansion will also bring more jobs to the clinic, which West Virginia University Hospitals President and CEO Michael Grace said is a good thing.
"We will have to increase our capacity on the staffing standpoint, but that's a very good thing for WVU Medicine, as well as for the community," Grace said.
Extra space was built into the facility when it opened in 2017 to accommodate potential growth. Since then, the clinic has exceeded expectations for patient traffic. The clinic served nearly 80,000 patients in 2022, Grace said. The original 25,000 square foot center opened in 2017 at a cost of $13.9 million.
Fairmont Gateway Clinic Manager Michelle Wilson, who has worked at the clinic since it opened and at WVU Medicine for over two decades, said the expansion will help cut wait times in their busiest departments.
"We monitor which services increase their patient load the most and where we have the greatest wait times. ... We're adding two family medicine providers and an additional podiatrist. Also, Urgent Care almost doubled their patient load in the last year. We're moving them and increasing the amount of rooms they have, so they can see patients in a more timely fashion and get people in and out," Wilson said.
Grace said the clinic serves a different need than WVU Medicine's Fairmont Medical Center. The clinic offers behavioral medicine, dermatology, digestive diseases, family medicine, general surgery, lab services, nephrology, OB/GYN, orthopedics, pain management, podiatry, urgent care and urology services.
Both Wilson and Grace agreed that they are excited for the expansion.
"I'm really proud of this clinic and that it's meeting the health care needs of Fairmont and the local area. We have a wonderful group of providers here and a great team that are going to help make this productive and prosperous," Wilson said.
Grace agreed.
"We remain committed to this community, both at this location, as well at Fairmont Regional Medical Center. ... We're just really excited to be in the Fairmont community and thank you all for your support," Grace said.
WVU Medicine Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Edmund, who is a Marion County native, also shared words of excitement.
"Anytime that WVU can provide more care for people in Marion County, I'm very happy about that. Most of my family still lives here, in Fairmont and Monongah. They benefit from the services that are provided here and Fairmont Regional Medical Center. So it's really a great thing, I think, that we can remain committed to the community here," Edmund said.
For more information on WVU Medicine's Fairmont Gateway Clinic, visit their website.
Reach me at sshriver@timeswv.com or 304-367-2549.
