Hey, what's that?—new healthcare facility in Lewis County

Community Care of West Virginia and WVU Medicine are working together to develop a new, $2.1 million healthcare facility at the Stonewall Commons Plaza right off I-79 in Weston.

"Community Care is going to provide primary care and urgent care services and WVU Medicine is going to provide specialists," said Geoff Marshall, CHFM, CHC, and VP of Support Services at United Hospital Center.

Measuring around 15,000 square feet, the new facility will be built to model other WVU Medicine clinics.

"Pods of exam rooms and the providers will each have their own pod to work out of," said Marshall.

There will be specialists from a variety of fields on hand, including oncology, Ear, Nose, and Throat, rheumatology and urology. The specialists will be from UHC, WVU Hospitals, and St. Joseph's in Buckhannon.

Before, residents of Lewis and surrounding counties were traveling substantial distances to visit their specialists. Now, the treatments they need will be right next door.

"The travel back and forth is always difficult, especially for some of the elderly or the more ill patients who have a tough time traveling. So with it being in our community, it'll be much easier and safer," said Queen.

"People will be able to come right out their backdoor and get good quality care where before, they had to drive an hour or so," a Weston resident said.

In addition to cutting down on travel times, the clinic will create ten jobs.

"Jobs are something that we need in every county, but in Lewis County especially. We're very excited because the jobs it will bring will help the economy grow," Queen said.

Big names like WVU Medicine and Community Care attract visitors from outside counties.

"We're excited because we know that those types of facilities bring other opportunities to our community," said Queen.

Queen also mentioned that there are several projects in the work for Lewis County for the upcoming year. Although she couldn't say specifically what they are, she says the area right off I-79 is a great location for growth.

The clinic is scheduled to open October 1.