Morgantown-based West Virginia University Medicine will open a 10-bed hospital with an emergency department at the former Fairmont Regional Medical Center by the end of the month, according to WVNews.
Irving, Calif.-based Alecto Healthcare, which owned Fairmont Regional, said in late February that it would close the West Virginia hospital within 60 days because it was unable to find a buyer.
But Albert Wright Jr., CEO and president of WVU Medicine, said in March he had worked out a deal with the governor to keep portions of Fairmont Regional open while WVU Medicine builds a 100-bed hospital in Fairmont.
WVU Medicine said the project to convert Fairmont Regional into a small hospital operated by the academic health system should cost about $10 million.
Mr. Wright told the newspaper the COVID-19 pandemic caused a slowdown in reopening portions of Fairmont Regional, but it is back on track.
"We wanted to get this [project] back on the front burner," Mr. Wright told WVNews. "We were able to negotiate our lease for the building, and I think we'll have it in place to reopen the emergency department and about 10 beds on about June 30."