ELKINS – Representatives from Davis Health System and Vandalia Health announced a strategic partnership agreement Friday that is set to increase access to multiple patient care services for patients across the DHS service area in central West Virginia.
“We’ve entered into a clinical partnership agreement with Vandalia Health, and the reason we’re doing that is because it affords us the ability to provide new services and new capabilities that we haven’t had,” DHS President and CEO Vance Jackson said during a news conference Friday. “Those services will benefit our patients and keep more patients in our area instead of transferring them out.”
Vandalia Health was formed last year in a merger between Charleston Area Medical Center and Mon Health System.
According to a press release, Davis Health System and Vandalia Health have identified a variety of patient needs that the partnership will support:
- The CAMC Cancer Center, which treats more patients with cancer than any other hospital in West Virginia, will support DMC’s Cancer Care Center in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients.
- Telemedicine Centers at Davis Medical Center, Webster and Broaddus Critical Access Hospitals, will bring easier access to CAMC specialists. Advanced technology will allow patients to connect with specialists without leaving their community.
- Davis Medical Center’s new inpatient dialysis program will be supported via the medical direction of CAMC’s Nephrology Department.
- Telemedicine will also support the addition of needed specialties like critical care and surgical subspecialty services.
Administrators of DHS and Vandalia Health, as well as their respective patient care providers, are focused on increasing access to health care services to rural West Virginians.
“A lot of great things have been happening in our system and across the state, and this is just another one of those wonderful opportunities to take care of people closer to home,” said David Ramsey, President and CEO of Vandalia Health.
One goal of the strategic partnership is to help local residents lead healthier lives because they will have easier access to the services they need.
“The most important thing is that people don’t avoid health care because they don’t think they will get access to what they really need,” Jackson said.
In the press release, the providers noted that rural, community hospitals are vulnerable to transformations in the health care landscape, with 136 rural hospitals closing from 2010 to 2021.
“It’s important to have relationships with partners who share a commitment to community health care,” Jackson said in the release. “Like Davis, CAMC is a community-based, nonprofit institution. Our shared goal is to improve access, improve community health, and lower the cost of care delivery.
“Davis Health System hospitals have a vast network of primary care providers, and we have only just begun to identify the possibilities for supporting them and their patients. Treating more of our patients closer to home is a huge win.”
Ramsey agreed.
“Local, quality health care is Vandalia’s goal,” Ramsey said. “We want to support Davis Health System’s longstanding tradition of caring for its community. This agreement ensures patients have access to the highest quality care, latest technology and most advanced treatments.”
Learn more about Davis Health System on the DHS website. Explore available Vandalia Health patient care services on the Vandalia Health website. Visit Davis Medical Center at 812 Gorman Avenue in Elkins.
