Health and Sciences

Capito joins Vandalia Health to celebrate $5.4M for hospital upgrades

By David Beard

MORGANTOWN - Sen. Shelley Moore Capito came to Vandalia Health Mon Medical Center on a gray, rainy Thursday morning to celebrate the allocation of $5.485 million in federal dollars for critical infrastructure upgrades to the hospital.

Capito secured the funds through the Congressionally Directed Spending process - what she called "Your tax dollars coming back to you." It directs already appropriated money to specific needs in the state.

Hospital staff and leaders, along with local elected officials, attended the brief ceremony.

Krystal Atkinson, senior vice president of Vandalia Health, said, "These funds are going to help us not only maintain but update some of the critical areas that are often unseen. But they are systems that allow us to provide reliable, seamless services to everyone who enters this building."

She told The Dominion Post this includes such things as generators, HVAC systems, boilers and roofs. Not only repairs, but replacements so they can look ahead to the next 20 years.

Capito told attendees, "I think that this is a major step forward for this facility." Her team worked with the Mon Medical Center team to help identify what the hospital needed.

She noted she has worked with Vandalia Health to also meet needs at other Vandalia facilities. "I look forward to working always as your partner."

Jeff Goode, Vandalia executive vice president, thanked Capito for her partnership with the system.

"Throughout your distinguished career, you’ve understood that strong communities require strong healthcare," he said. Both urban and rural areas deserve excellent care close to home.

For Fiscal Year 2026, he said, Capito has secured $38 million total in federal dollars for the Vandalia system. Plus $3.25 million for Vandalia affiliate Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center in Grantsville.