Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), announced eight Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for education and research programs, facility construction and renovations, and healthcare treatment resources in West Virginia.
These awards, which were secured through CDS requests made by Ranking Member Capito in Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), will be used to improve medical centers and treatment, bolster cyber security education, and expand the educational opportunities for future healthcare workers in West Virginia.
“After partnering with organizations across our state and listening to their needs, I am excited to see these awards help West Virginia institutions meet critical goals to expand medical services offered by providers in our state in both scope and quantity. I am also particularly excited to see Marshall expanding its National Center of Excellence for Cyber Security in Critical Infrastructure, which I have championed,” Ranking Member Capito said. “These CDS awards will help deliver medical and educational outcomes in West Virginia and I am proud to have secured them. As Ranking Member of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue to partner with local leaders to identify their most pressing needs and work to build up our medical and educational infrastructure.”
Locally, a $7,516,000 HHS CDS award to the Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) Greenbrier Medical Center, Inc. in Ronceverte was made to construct a state-of-the-art facility to house an employed multispecialty physician practice of CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center.
Currently, the employed physicians supporting the hospital are not located on the campus of the hospital. The current rented locations are neither modern nor accessible and were not constructed to meet the needs of patients and providers. The new medical staff office building on the CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center campus will support improved access to multi-specialty services for the hospital’s patients. It will also enhance the hospital’s ability to attract new physicians and retain the ones already recruited to the area. The enhanced ease of access will ultimately improve the health of residents in the Greenbrier Valley Region.
The project will allow CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center to expand its Family Medicine, Cardiology, Urology, Pulmonology, ENT, and General Surgery departments. It will also provide room for the addition of Neurology Services and a telemedicine hub as CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center becomes a full services community hospital.