DOs displaced from residency after Ohio Valley Medical Center closure

Ohio Valley Medical Center is expected to close in 60 to 90 days, displacing roughly 33 DO residents.

The community-based hospital in Wheeling, West Virginia, in affiliation with the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, is home to ACGME-accredited emergency medicine and internal medicine programs plus a combined emergency medicine/internal medicine residency program.

Daniel Dunmeyer, president and CEO of the hospital, attributes the closure to a combination of a $37 million loss over two years at Ohio Valley Medical Center and its sister facility, East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry, Ohio, plus a failure to find a strategic partner, according to an article in The Intelligencer.

ACGME response

Because of the closure, ACGME has applied its Extraordinary Circumstances Policy, which is designed to help residents transfer to other GME training facilities.

DOs who trained at the hospital are encouraged to contact AOA at postdoc@osteopathic.org if they have questions about board eligibility or state licensure.

Health care jobs discontinued

In addition to the roughly 33 DOs who will be displaced from residency, about 1,200 employees are expected to lose their jobs in the closure, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said in a statement.

In July, Hahnemann University Hospital, a teaching hospital in Pennsylvania, filed for bankruptcy, which resulted in the displacement of 570 residents and fellows in 35 ACGME-accredited programs.

Further reading:

Pennsylvania hospital bankruptcy displaces about 570 residents

Rural hospital closures increased dramatically in the past 5 years