MORGANTOWN – In January 2022, WVU Health System President and CEO Albert Wright sat for a work session with the Monongalia County Commission to engage in a “meaningful conversation” about the health system’s longstanding interest in acquiring the property upon which the Monongalia County Health Department sits.
The two sides parted with an agreement to form a working group with representatives of the MCHD, the commission and WVU to figure out what the health department needs and how much it will cost to give it that in a suitable new location.
In January 2026, Wright was back, this time accompanied by WVU Hospitals President and CEO Michael Grace, for a conversation on the same topic held entirely in executive session, to discuss what Commissioner Jeff Arnett described as “sensitive matters and financial-type negotiations.”
Members of the commission have described the latest sit-down as “positive progress” and said they’re confident an announcement is coming on that front.
“It’s a little premature, but we should have a pending action on that at some point in the next several weeks,” Arnett said, explaining the commission still needed to sit down with MCHD leadership.
Should a deal come to fruition, it could potentially be a boon for both for all involved.
WVU Health System wants the land upon which the MCHD buildings sit – three adjoining county-owned parcels between the main hospital campus and the construction site of a new $230-plus million WVU Eye Institute.
And MCHD wants out of said buildings.
In fact, it’s already out of one of them.
Last January, MCHD moved its WIC program out of the 17,000 square-foot building at 1000 Hospital Drive due to maintenance costs and looming projects to address failing plumbing and electrical systems -both of which are original to the building, which dates back to the early 1900s.
WIC has since moved to White Birch Tower, at 1311 Pineview Drive.
As for the main health department building, at 453 Van Voorhis Road, the 50-year old structure is not only facing its own mounting maintenance costs, MCHD operations have completely outgrown it.
MCHD’s Environmental Services division moved into a facility on Hartman Run Road in 2021. Threat Preparedness operations have since joined it there after a stint on the Morgantown Municipal Airport campus.
MCHD Executive Director Anthony DeFelice has said the goal of any move would be to bring all of the health department’s operations back under one roof in a state-of-the-art facility.
